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Climate Politics
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- How can governments phase out fossil fuels and still win elections? A by Dr Fergus Green and coauthors, published in the American Political Science Review, discusses the effect of a 鈥淛ust Transition Agreement鈥� on the Spanish Government鈥檚 electoral popularity in coalmining regions. The research was reported in the .
- Professor Lisa Vanhala (Political Science) has been appointed as Pro-Vice-Provost to lead the new UCL Grand Challenges Theme of Climate Crisis, along with Professor Mark Maslin (Geography).
- Dr Fergus Green has provided expert evidence to Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) in a landmark climate litigation case against Shell. Dr Green also co-led a UCL Grand Challenges project to develop the to support similar litigation around the world.
- Dr Simon Chin-Yee is听the co-host of the听UCL Generation One Podcast. Check out the latest episodes.
- Professor Lisa Vanhala was a lead author of UNEP鈥檚 .
- Why do some countries do more than others to address climate change? Recent work by Dr Jared Finnegan highlights the role of institutions and the political strategies of insulation and compensation. See Dr Finnegan鈥檚 articles in and in .
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Our Research Themes
Global Environmental Governance
We undertake the study of organisations, policy instruments, mechanisms, rules and norms that regulate the processes of global environmental protection. Our research ranges from understanding how UN processes shape national climate and biodiversity policies, to exploring the deeper and more powerful societal forces which give rise to pervasive environmental problems. These problems threaten to exceed the thresholds of what the planet can sustainably support (鈥減lanetary boundaries鈥�). This theme is a collaboration with UCL鈥檚 Global Governance Institute, which serves as an active hub for UCL activities on global politics and governance. Recent research outputs include our assessment of the current state of the , whether and the .
Our project:听
This project explores how the negative impacts of climate change 鈥� the loss and damage 鈥� is governed. It is led by Professor Lisa Vanhala. We look across scales ranging from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to national level case studies in the South Pacific, Africa, Europe, South America and the Caribbean. In this project we have deployed an approach to , to understand , as well as to study
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Political Economy of Climate Policy
We research the political phenomena 鈥� such as institutions, ideas, and the actions of interest groups 鈥� that affect the adoption of climate policies, especially at the national level. We draw mainly from research traditions in comparative politics and political economy.听
Our project:听Socially Just and Politically Robust Decarbonisation: An Evidence Base and Toolkit for Policymakers
This听is a multinational, multidisciplinary research project that explores philosophical, economic, political and legal dimensions of the transition to a low-carbon economy in Europe. Dr Fergus Green is an investigator on this project, which is funded by the under the .听听
Our project:听
This听is a new research project spanning 11 partner institutions across ten countries, including Dr Fergus Green and Dr Jared Finnegan from UCL. The project runs from October 2022 to September 2026 with European partners funded by the European Research Council and UK partners funded by UKRI.听
Our project:听Party positions on climate change
This project听aims to study patterns and drivers of political parties鈥� positions on various climate-related issues by developing a new dataset based on party manifestos.听
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Ideological and Normative Foundations of Climate Policy
In this research theme we study the role of values, principles, causal assumptions and other 鈥榠deas鈥� in climate politics and policy. What ideologies (constellations of normative and purportedly factual ideas) and economic policy paradigms inform real-world climate policies and actors鈥� climate policy positions? And what values, ideas and paradigms ought to inform them? We study these questions using quantitative (e.g., computational text analysis) and qualitative methods, as well as normative political theory. For instance, what do labour unions think a 鈥渏ust transition鈥� to a low-carbon economy entails? And what, as a matter of normative principle, does a "just transition鈥� entail?听
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