Book Description

Fossil fuels have been key to major powers' foreign policies for a long time. In the context of the current global energy transition, renewables and low-carbon technologies are emerging as elements that can have a similarly important impact on twenty-first century world politics. Green Superpowers: China, the European Union, and the United States in the Global Energy Transition offers an in-depth comparative analysis of the green foreign energy policies and green power strategies of the three main international actors in this transformative process: China, the European Union, and the United States. These green superpowers alone account for about half of global carbon dioxide emissions, which is the primary driver of climate change, and they are frontrunners in the global race for promoting and deploying renewables and innovative low-carbon technologies. To analyse this changing landscape, Prontera combines insights from international political economy, comparative public policy, international relations, and energy policy scholarship. The book develops an original framework for mapping and studying the green foreign energy policies and green power strategies of major international actors and applies this framework to shed light on the recent efforts of China, the European Union, and the US. In doing so, it illustrates the links between the domestic green approaches that these green superpowers are promoting and their external actions regarding renewables and low-carbon technologies, whilst drawing attention to the limits and potential of green power strategies in the transition away from fossil fuels and the struggles to address a mounting climate crisis.