Economic growth, energy use and climate change : a historical and prospective approach.

Summary The energy transition requires an evolution of productive and financial structures in order to develop, finance and deploy low-carbon assets. Based on a historical and prospective approach, this thesis proposes four essays contributing to the analysis of the sustainability of such a transition under a structural approach. The first chapter focuses on the role of energy in long-term growth during the industrial revolution. We show that once human capital, technical progress and demography are taken into account, energy appears more as a catalyst than as a root cause of modern growth. These results suggest that economic growth that is not dependent on fossil resources would be feasible, but that it could have significant transition costs, especially because of the dependence on the technological path. The next two chapters focus on the trade-off between financial stability and climate sustainability at the global level. We show that a proactive climate policy package is needed to achieve a balanced growth pathway that controls both risks. The last chapter deals with citizens' attitudes through the study of participatory financing of renewable energies in France. We show that the policy framework is essential for the success of such an instrument, which is relevant for diversifying and raising awareness among the investor base. The latter would be primarily guided by their views on the sustainability of the sector, the transparency of investment opportunities and the perception of risks.