We are Committed to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice in Energy Education, Research, and Deployment 

This statement was prepared by the UEILC Committee on Energy Equity and Justice, with collaboration from colleagues actively working on energy equity and justice. 

The University Energy Initiative Leader Collaborative (UEILC) recognizes that energy, while being an essential infrastructure in all societies, also contributes to substantial risks and harms. The benefits and harms of energy resources, technologies, and systems do not accrue to all populations fairly. A common feature of climate-related inequity is that those who have contributed the least to historic emissions from energy use are generally the most impacted by climate change. Historic, ongoing, and potential future energy policy and practices impose a complex web of financial, environmental, health, and opportunity inequities tied to race, ethnicity, income/class, and gender. These cumulative inequities often have distinctive characteristics for indigenous nations, people of color, rural, and low-income communities. Persistent inequities in energy systems are a severe barrier to a sustainable energy transition and must be addressed through ambitious, clear, and meaningful actions that specifically target distributive, procedural, recognition, and restorative justice. 

The UEILC is committed to exploring, refining, and implementing an inclusive education and research environment for member institutes. The UEILC is also committed to advancing and disseminating evidence-based best practices in education, research, and community engagement to accelerate a just energy transition. Energy equity and justice is a complex socio-technical problem that involves challenging issues of race and identity, as well as the intersection of climate science, technology, economics, public health, politics and public information/misinformation. 

The UEILC is well-positioned to help society achieve justice in energy systems. UEILC member institutes encompass a tremendous breadth and depth of expertise and a tradition of academic freedom to address societal grand challenges. UEILC member institutes also represent urban and rural institutions across the U.S. with significant capacity for community engagement and a recognized role in regional development. 

 The UEILC established a Committee on Energy Equity and Justice that meets monthly to help the UEILC and its members make progress on the following commitments: 

• Identify and communicate specific actions member institutes can take to integrate diversity, inclusion, equity and justice into their research, teaching, and public engagement to help advance a just energy transition 

• Encourage and guide member institutes to constantly work to reduce inequities and injustices in their internal operations and in the field of energy more broadly 

• Actively advocate for the engagement of stakeholders and communities in energy research and education to ensure those perspectives inform scholarly inquiry and student training 

• Produce knowledge and educate about energy inequities and injustices and potential actions to improve distributive, procedural, recognition, and restorative justice 

• Mentor and develop the next generation of diverse energy scholars 

• Support solutions that reduce energy inequity, mitigate harm, and promote resilience and well-being in disadvantaged communities 

• Advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (e.g., end energy poverty, universal electricity access), the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and other UN charters on Human Rights 

The UEILC recognizes that diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice are core to intellectual and social progress, particularly in the energy sector. We aspire to be an inclusive and anti-racist community with diverse ideas, races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, ages, abilities, religions, socioeconomic backgrounds, experiences, and disciplinary approaches to energy research, education, and public engagement. Our differences enhance our ability to achieve the core missions of public service, teaching and research that are central to the universities housing the Energy Institutes we represent. Our differences are a strength upon which we build more inclusive, equitable, and just scholarship in energy-related research and education. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice are central to better energy outcomes and a better world.