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Green Industrial Policy and the Global Transformation of Climate Politics

Author

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  • Bentley Allan
  • Joanna I. Lewis
  • Thomas Oatley

Abstract

The rise of green industrial policy has injected purpose and competition into global environmental politics. Efforts to build green industry have raised the economic and geopolitical stakes of environmental issues as states seek to position their firms in global value chains and reshore strategic industries. This could help to generate the technologies and political momentum needed to accelerate global decarbonization. At the same time, these green interventions confront status quo interests and a variety of industrial policies that support fossil fuel-based industries. To help make sense of this new landscape, this introduction to the special issue defines green industrial policy and situates it within domestic political economy, social policy, and global geopolitics. We present six new studies that demonstrate and explore the global politics of green industrial policy. To illustrate the kinds of effects and implications of green industrial policy we are interested in exploring, we show how green industrial policy has transformed climate politics. Changes in state practice, ideas about the environment and economy, and technological cost declines came together to produce a new opportunistic and competitive climate politics. We then identify areas for further investigation as we call for a new climate politics research agenda, integrating green industrial policy more intentionally into studies of global environmental politics.

Suggested Citation

  • Bentley Allan & Joanna I. Lewis & Thomas Oatley, 2021. "Green Industrial Policy and the Global Transformation of Climate Politics," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 21(4), pages 1-19, Autumn.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:glenvp:v:21:y:2021:i:4:p:1-19
    DOI: 10.1162/glep_a_00640
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    Cited by:

    1. Shen, Wei & Ayele, Seife & Worako, Tadesse Kuma, 2023. "The political economy of green industrial policy in Africa: Unpacking the coordination challenges in Ethiopia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    2. Owens, Katherine, 2024. "Governing experimentation to decarbonise the electricity sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    3. Arnaud Sergent & Andy Smith, 2024. "A meso-political economy of how climate issues impact regulation: the case of the wood industry in France," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Springer, vol. 105(1), pages 125-149, August.
    4. Oliver Kovacs, 2025. "The interdisciplinarity of degrowth: cross-fertilising disciplines for well-being," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 72(2), pages 1-38, December.
    5. Hanna Schwander & Jonas Fischer, 2025. "From a cultural to a distributive issue: Public climate action as a new field for comparative political economy," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(2), pages 303-328, April.
    6. Ran, Qiying & Yang, Xiaodong & Yan, Hongchuan & Xu, Yang & Cao, Jianhong, 2023. "Natural resource consumption and industrial green transformation: Does the digital economy matter?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    7. Hennig, Jan C. & Firk, Sebastian & Wolff, Michael & Coskun, Hülgen, 2023. "Environmental management control systems: Exploring the economic motivation behind their implementation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    8. Ayele, Seife & Shen, Wei & Mulugetta, Yacob & Worako, Tadesse Kuma, 2024. "Governance of renewable energy procurement via private suppliers: The Ethiopian experience," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    9. Jonas Meckling & Jesse Strecker, 2023. "Green bargains: leveraging public investment to advance climate regulation," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4), pages 418-429, April.
    10. Finkill, Guy & Gough, Clair & Mander, Sarah & Jones, Christopher, 2025. "Reconfiguring industry in the United Kingdom. Global lessons for ambition versus policy on the path towards net-zero," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    11. Hasselbalch, Jacob & Larsen, Mathias, 2026. "Reimagining growth futures: Overcoming the false binary between green growth and degrowth," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    12. Timur Ergen & Luuk Schmitz, 2025. "Picking Losers: Climate Change and Managed Decline in the European Union," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(2), pages 383-398, April.
    13. Orihuela José Carlos & Irarrázaval Felipe & Flores Cristián, 2025. "Chile at the Green Window of Opportunity: The Troubled Road to New Productive Capabilities," Journal of Globalization and Development, De Gruyter, vol. 16(2), pages 277-304.
    14. Luca Cigna & Donato Di Carlo & Niccolò Durazzi, 2026. "The Comparative Political Economy of the Green Transition: Economic Specializations and Skills Regimes in Europe," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(2), pages 544-559, April.
    15. Hansen, Ulrich Elmer & Nygaard, Ivan & Kadarusman, Yohanes Berenika, 2026. "Green industrial policy and latecomer catch-up: A missed green window of opportunity for domestic solar PV module manufacturers in Indonesia," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(2).
    16. Kovács, Olivér, 2025. "A minőségi növekedés felé - a nemnövekedés értékelése [The road to qualitative growth: Revisiting the concept of degrowth]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(1), pages 59-91.
    17. Møller, Karl Magnus, 2024. "Domestic renewable energy industries and national decarbonization policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    18. Schorr Bettina & Carrasco Sebastián & Damonte Gerardo & Atria Jorge, 2025. "Explaining Varying Green Hydrogen Ambitions: State Capacity and Business Positioning in Chile and Peru," Journal of Globalization and Development, De Gruyter, vol. 16(2), pages 249-275.
    19. Ergen, Timur & Schmitz, Luuk, 2023. "The sunshine problem: Climate change and managed decline in the European Union," MPIfG Discussion Paper 23/6, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    20. Larsen, Mathias, 2025. "Green industrial policy under financial constraints: Insights from India’s state-led decarbonization," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    21. Magdalena Jaciow & Kinga Hoffmann-Burdzińska & Izabela Marzec & Łukasz Rzońca, 2025. "Digital Maturity as a Driver of Sustainable Development Goal Achievement in Polish Enterprises: Evidence from Empirical Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-30, September.
    22. Liuhua Fang & Bin Zhao & Wenyu Li & Lixia Tao & Luyao He & Jianyu Zhang & Chuanhao Wen, 2023. "Impact of Digital Finance on Industrial Green Transformation: Evidence from the Yangtze River Economic Belt," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-23, August.
    23. Xudong Ren & Khanh Linh Dong & Jackson Ewing & Jie Zheng & Lei Shi, 2024. "A Matching Policy to Address ESG and Non-ESG Risks Impacted by a Relocation Policy in China’s Chemical Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-30, November.
    24. Arcand, Bruno, 2026. "The political economy of green industrial policy in liberal states," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    25. Gorgulu, Nisan & Mealy, Penelope Ann, 2026. "Policy Pulse : Sensing the Sentiment toward Climate Policies in the Public Sphere," Policy Research Working Paper Series 11353, The World Bank.

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