Securitization of Energy Transitions in Estonia, Finland and Norway

Abstract

This paper analyses the extent to which zero-carbon energy transitions are a securitized phenomenon in selected countries and what that means for sustainability transitions more broadly. Without taking a normative stance on securitization, we focus on the ways in which security is constructed through in-depth interviews with experts in the energy, security, and defense sectors in Estonia, Finland, and Norway. We use a securitization framework to study how securitization as a process is discussed by identifying “securitization moves.” The analysis is also connected to the literature on sustainability transitions: the zero-carbon energy transition can be depicted as a large-scale socio-technical transition related to environmental sustainability. Our findings suggest that energy transitions are securitized to an extent because we were able to detect all “securitization moves” in the interview data. The interviews showed different ways in which security is interpreted and what is achieved by its construction in specific contexts. For example, the identified threats were connected to preserving sovereignty in Estonia, the inability to openly discuss threats related to energy transitions created new concerns in Finland, and the connections between the two sectors were urgently and inescapably addressed in Norway only after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.