Sustainable Energy-System Transformation and Labour-Market Adjustment in Europe: Dynamic Panel Evidence from Energy and Environment-Related SDG Indicators
Abstract
Energy transitions reshape not only energy supply and demand but also the broader socio-technical, environmental, and economic conditions that influence the resilience of European economies. This study examines whether selected energy and environment-related indicators are associated with employment-rate dynamics in 26 European countries over the period 2005–2022. Harmonised Eurostat indicators from the Sustainable Development Goals monitoring framework are used as empirical proxies for system-level characteristics, rather than as normative measures of SDG implementation. Employment rate by citizenship is treated as an observable indicator of labour-market adjustment within the broader process of sustainable energy-system transformation. The empirical analysis applies a dynamic panel-data model with autoregressive and distributed lag components, estimated using weighted least squares. The results indicate that employment-rate dynamics are associated with energy demand, import dependency, energy productivity, household energy conditions, transport structure, recycling capacity, and environmental pressure. Import dependency shows a negative long-term association, whereas final energy consumption is positively associated with employment-rate dynamics. The study contributes to energy-sustainability research by interpreting labour-market adjustment as one dimension of a resilient and just energy transition.