What the geoeconomic turn in decarbonization means for policymakers

For the majority of its history, decarbonization policy focused on distributing the burden of climate change mitigation. In the late 2010s, however, countries realized that there major benefits associated with clean technology. Decarbonization took a competitive turn and green industrial policy became a priority for many countries.

In a recent Perspective article for Nature, Jonas Meckling, a professor of environmental science, policy, and management at UC Berkeley and the Climate research program lead at BESI, traces this rise of geoeconomic competition in decarbonization policy and spells out its implications for policymakers. Meckling serves as co-director of the Green Industrial Strategy (GISt) project, a joint effort between BiGS and BESI, with support from the Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Business.

A September 24 blog for BiGS Actionable Intelligence, the official blog of the Institute for Business in Global Society (BiGS) at Harvard Business School, situates the article in the current political moment. Read the article now from Nature (no subscription required) and get additional analysis of what green competition means for business strategy and risks in the BiGS Actionable Intelligence blog.