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ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSFORMATIONS
XIV
unlike the digital divide. The author uses his finding to offer concrete recommenda-
tions to policy makers urging them to consider the triple injustice faced by low income
households that are fuel poor, and pointed to domestic energy efficiency measures as
the most promising way to close this gap.
Kaltsa, an architect and policymaker, discusses the role of cities in the Anthropocene.
As resource consumers and greenhouse gas emitters, cities have an overarching impact
on society and the global economy. The role of cities in the fight against the climate
crisis has led to a growing discussion on the benefits of smart-cities as the world’s
great hope to tackle the global crisis. Because city growth continues unabated, cities
are finding themselves at the very heart of the challenges and solutions resulting from
the ongoing climate crisis. Worldwide, according to 2014 UN figures, 54% of the glo-
bal population lives in cities, a percentage that is predicted to reach the 66% mark by
2050. Kaltsa looks at what makes cities ‘smart’ and presents examples of innovations
primarily in Europe but globally as well. She concludes, that smart-cities are about
putting together a sum of smart parts for transitioning to low-carbon societies. They
draw in stakeholders, the economy, and raise questions about monitoring, the appli-
cation of new technologies, e-governance, e-health and a number of other services.
Ultimately, there can be no low carbon future without cities taking the transformative
lead.
In their contribution Freitas, an historian, and Dias, a geologist, join forces to take a
look at the challenges of coastal zone management in the era of climate change. The
authors assert that linking history with other disciplines such as geology, climatology
and biology, allows for a better understanding of the impacts of human activity and cli-
mate change on coastlines through a dialectical and historical perspective. The authors
suggest that a more holistic view of present challenges will help both scholars and so-
ciety better understand coastal systems and respond appropriately to coastal instabil-
ity while helping prepare societies with the tools necessary to adapt themselves to the
inevitable changes ahead.
In his paper, Kritikos takes a look at the Offshore Safety Directive adopted by the
European Union as a result of numerous recent accidents linked to the ever-increasing
offshore exploitation of oil and gas and explores the organizational and legal novel-
ties that this long-awaited piece of EU legislation introduces. The author examines its
added value, and how it helps to improve conditions for safe offshore exploitation of
oil and gas and respond in the case of an accident. In a policy area, traditionally frag-
mented and ‘captured’ by corporate practices and ad hoc regulatory initiatives, the au-
thor seeks to discuss EU capacity to introduce common licensing rules as part of its new
risk governance.
In an energy hungry world, the transition from fossil fuels to renewables also remains
a challenge. The climate crisis makes the transition not only imperative but urgent. In
her paper, Maltezou explores whether or not solar technologies can in fact compete
with fossil fuels in Greece and the Middle East, finding promise in increasingly attrac-