“Political Economy of Low-Carbon Transitions”: Joint MPIfG and AxPo Workshop

The MPIfG and the AxPo Observatory of Market Society Polarization of Sciences Po, Paris, jointly organized a workshop at the MPIfG in Cologne on June 6 and 7. A central theme of the event on the political economy of low-carbon transitions was the influence of economic and political choices on the persistence or transformation of carbon societies and how the green transformation is shaped by balances of power between fossil and green interests and by party political strategies. Building on accounts in international and comparative political economy of how policy choices, technological changes, and the formation of economic interest groups can affect outcomes, the discussion further focused on the state’s role in low-carbon transformation processes and the challenges facing public policy in this context. One of the aims of the workshop was to encourage scholars to explore and discuss the critical and often controversial role of the state in green transitions. The organizers were Leon Wansleben (MPIfG) and Matthias Thiemann (Sciences Po).