When Universal Programs Deepen Inequality: A Critical Review of Intersectional Frameworks for Climate Justice and Energy Poverty

This paper presents a structured review of the scholarship on climate justice and energy poverty, read through a socio-technical lens that treats engineering performance and social outcomes as a single, interdependent concern rather than as separate questions to be addressed in sequence. The review organizes a fragmented body of work that spans engineering, economics, development studies, and energy justice, and it draws these traditions together around a common question, namely how technical capability and social legitimacy jointly determine whether interventions endure in resource-dependent and underserved regions. Particular attention is given to intersectional, quantitatively grounded targeting as the agenda for just transition, which the review identifies as a recurring but inadequately measured determinant of outcomes. The contribution is conceptual and synthetic: this paper clarifies the state of knowledge, exposes the gap between the recognized importance of social factors and the field's limited progress in measuring them, and sets out a conceptual agenda for integrated evaluation oriented toward inclusive and economically sustainable energy transition.