Transition écologique et justice spatiale. Une analyse par les financements publics dans la région Occitanie

By analyzing how four major public funders (The French Agency for Acological Transition - ADEME, European Regional Development Fund- ERDF, the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the Occitanie Region) allocate their funds targeting ecological transition to public and private stakeholders, we assess energy transition in terms of spatial justice : do the transition policies fit into the traditional approach of territorial equality? Or do they reinforce the concentration of resources in the richest territories? Or, conversely, do they fall under the definition of spatial justice proposed by Edward Soja, which implies increased support for the least endowed territories ? To answer these questions, we mobilize a multidisciplinary analytical framework, both quantitative and qualitative. After presenting the energy transition main public funders, we analyze the spatial distribution of their funds at the scale of a French large region i.e. Occitanie. Statistical and cartographic analyses highlight under- and over-endowed territories, it also highlights inequalities of access between territories with similar characteristics. This is why we thereafter seek to identify the quantitative determinants of the distribution of funding. First we argue the norms and procedures (legal, professional, financial, organizational and political) of the project-based funding heavily weight on and frame the allocation process. These norms encourage a snowball effect : the best-endowed actors (i.e. large communalities or firms) capture most of the funding. Second, we identify few « hard » and « soft » local factors explaining the unequal capacities of local authorities to capture subsidies. The technical and a-territorial approach characterizing energy transition policies so far fails to correct existing spatial inequalities.