The political economy of climate (in)action – what is holding up the green transition?

Scorching heatwaves, violent storms and dying ecosystems leave no room for delay in a green transition. Still, governments worldwide – including Germany – fall short of their climate pledges. Simultaneously, the industry struggles to become truly sustainable, as companies that have made fortunes with fossil fuels are facing challenges to their business models. It often seems like the World is stuck in a rut of business as usual. But why is this the case? In our upcoming event on the political economy of climate change, we are looking at the systemic factors that stop effective decarbonisation from taking place.

Together with our guests, we will be discussing the following questions and more.

• Who would lose out if we stopped exploiting fossil fuels?

• What is the role of the financial sector in upholding the status quo?

• Where is the line between truly ‘green’ financial regulation and greenwashing?

Dr. Katie Kedward is a senior research fellow at the UCL Insitute for Innovation and Public Purpose, where she researches on the political economy of central banking and sustainability finance. Dr. Gregor Semieniuk is a senior climate change economist at the World Bank, on leave from the University of Massachussetts Amherst. Dr. Semieniuk’s work focuses on the political economy of rapid, policy-induced structural change that is required for the transition to a low carbon economy, considering questions of both financing low-carbon investments and divesting from high-carbon ones, and analysing characteristics of stable, equitable growth with climate policy. Daniel Mittler is a political activist and currently holds the role of CEO at Bürgerbewegung Finanzewende. Prior to this, he was political director for Greenpeace International. Join us to hear their expert opinions on why not enough is being done to curb climate change, and what needs to happen to change that.

Speakers:

• Dr. Katie Kedward (UCL Centre for Innovation and Public Policy)

• Dr. Gregor Semieniuk (World Bank and UMass Amherst)

• Daniel Mittler (Bürgerbewegung Finanzwende)