Environmental Politics

New book review!

Power lines: the human costs of american energy in transition by Sanya Carley and David Konisky.

Reviewed by Jason R. Motsick.

doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2026.2620247

The article argues that far-right climate obstruction seeks to create fossil fuel ignorance through nostalgia for national-industrial modernity. It reveals how far-right anti-reflexivity opposes not just environmentalism, but feminist and antiracist movements too.

New article!

Far-right fossil fuel ignorance: the nostalgia of national-industrial modernity by Kjell Vowles.

@kvowles.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2026.2620920

Week in review for Environmental Politics The Friday Post

Week in review! Subscribe for a short weekly round up.

This week we have published two research articles and one book review.

open.substack.com/pub/environm...

The UN climate regime’s gender agenda is characterised by competing signals about the relevance of gender. Efforts to promote an expansive agenda have been constrained by efforts to narrow the focus to women’s vulnerability in developing countries. We assess the impact of these competing signals by comparing Parties’ performance on participation and policy. We find a persistent North-South divide: developed countries perform better on participation and developing countries on policy. However, we find evidence that gender considerations are expanding. We argue that these performance patterns are reinforced by external political-economic forces. Unlike developed countries, developing countries often receive external support to prepare their Nationally Determined Contributions and face incentives to consider the interests of external institutions whose finance is required for implementation. Given that gender equality has become a criterion for finance, we are more likely to see commitment signaled in NDCs from the Global South than the Global North.

New article!

Who cares about gender? A comparison of parties’ commitment to gender equality in the UN climate regime by Ana Victoria Dominguez Britos & Hayley Stevenson.

doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2026.2616987

This article reveals how non-humans enter environmental politics through embodied, passionate alliances rather than legal frameworks. Using Brussels and Valencia cases, it shows conflict-driven learning creates cross-species solidarity in everyday activism.

In environmental conflicts, the political involvement of non-human actors sits uneasily with classical procedures of human politics. The engagement of non-human actors is often conceived in de-sensitized, emotionless, juridical forms, as an ‘external factor’ imposing its rules as boundaries on the political process. In this paper, we conceive of more-than-human participation differently, as embodied, affective and stimulated by conflict. This opens up environmental politics to be a co-creative process of intersubjectivation in which non-human actors are actively involved with and through the learning bodies of human participants. We build this argument based on ethnographic vignettes centered on water conflicts in Brussels, Belgium and Valencia, Spain.

New article!

Cosmopolitics in action: bridging the human-non-human divide in everyday environmental conflicts by Maarten Loopmans & Kato Van Speybroeck.

doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2026.2620914

This article reveals how the IMF/World Bank reshaped Romanian coal discourse during the 1990s phase-out, legitimising closures through market frames. It identifies novel discursive tactics that reframed miners from national heroes to economic burdens, advancing phase-out theory.

We examine the rapid and transnationally influenced coal phase-out in Romania’s Jiu Valley during the 1990s, with a focus on how macro-political agendas reshaped public discourse around coal and coal miners. We trace the discursive struggle between two competing coalitions, one upholding coal as a vital national resource, the other framing it as a barrier to market reform. Initially, dominant frames that celebrated the economic and moral value of mining and miners were gradually displaced by frames aligned with neoliberal reform. We propose two key discursive tactics used: leverage of macro-political dynamics, and de- and re-construction of past and future legitimacy. This study contributes to better understanding the contested nature of phase-out, and the interplay of discursive struggles, technological change, and macro-politics therein.

New article!

From miners to markets: discursive struggle in Romania’s coal phase-out by Zahar Koretsky & Bruno Turnheim.

@koretsky.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2025.2610543

The UN climate regime sends mixed signals on gender relevance. This article compares parties' participation vs policy reveals a North-South divide: developed countries lead on participation, developing countries on policy — but with gender considerations.

The UN climate regime’s gender agenda is characterised by competing signals about the relevance of gender. Efforts to promote an expansive agenda have been constrained by efforts to narrow the focus to women’s vulnerability in developing countries. We assess the impact of these competing signals by comparing Parties’ performance on participation and policy. We find a persistent North-South divide: developed countries perform better on participation and developing countries on policy. However, we find evidence that gender considerations are expanding. We argue that these performance patterns are reinforced by external political-economic forces. Unlike developed countries, developing countries often receive external support to prepare their Nationally Determined Contributions and face incentives to consider the interests of external institutions whose finance is required for implementation. Given that gender equality has become a criterion for finance, we are more likely to see commitment signaled in NDCs from the Global South than the Global North.

New article!

Who cares about gender? A comparison of parties’ commitment to gender equality in the UN climate regime by Ana Victoria Dominguez Britos & Hayley Stevenson.

doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2026.2616987

Week in review! Subscribe for a short weekly round up.

This week we have published two research articles, one review article, and two book reviews.

open.substack.com/pub/environm...

From miners to markets: discursive struggle in Romania’s coal phase-out We examine the rapid and transnationally influenced coal phase-out in Romania’s Jiu Valley during the 1990s, with a focus on how macro-political agendas reshaped public discourse around coal and co...

📑Our paper with B. Turnheim on the discursive work in phase-out is finally out in @environmentalpol.bsky.social ! We explore the construction of directionality in a post-socialist case, and discuss how sustainability transitions can be exclusionary and unjust
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/DIFJ9...

The article puts together a transnational visual history of the use of herbicides in war. Tracing the analysis of herbicidal warfare as employed for colonial repression and war on drugs, it argues for the cultivation of an ‘earthly memory’ to bear witness to war and ecocide.

This article weaves together a transnational visual history of the use of herbicides in war. I trace the photographic analysis of herbicidal warfare as it was employed as a tactic of colonial repression, used against anti-colonial struggles, in counterinsurgency campaigns in the Cold War and, eventually, to Colombia in the War on Drugs. I argue that this mode of analysis was key to the design of ecocide. The goal of tracing these histories in relation to ecocide is to open up transitional justice processes and legal forums to include the natural world as a subject that has also experienced the violence of war. In doing so, I argue for the cultivation of an ‘earthly memory’ that can bear witness to the destruction of war and ecocide, thus articulating the deep connections between political and environmental violence.

New article!

Ways of seeing on a dying planet: photography and the design of ecocide by Hannah Meszaros Martin.

doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2025.2590268

Why “Drill, Baby, Drill” Will Still Be Republicans’ Energy Policy Despite the Rapidly Falling Cost of Renewables by Daniel Braaten.

New guest post!

Why “Drill, Baby, Drill” Will Still Be Republicans’ Energy Policy Despite the Rapidly Falling Cost of Renewables by Daniel Braaten.

environmentalpoliticsjournal.net/guest-posts/...

Big AI firms advocate for permissive regulations in AI upscaling, while disguising energy & climate costs. This article maps emerging agenda-setting on AI governance from envt'l NGOs on these issues. It finds a piecemeal but collectively coherent playbook on AI risk & governance.

Big AI firms advocate for permissive regulations in artificial intelligence (AI) upscaling, while disguising energy and climate costs. As a counterpoint, I map emerging agenda-setting efforts on AI governance from environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) regarding energy and climate issues, through thematic and network analyses of recent reports supplemented by personnel interviews. First-movers include hybrid organizations combining digital and environmental interests and international ENGO branches driven by technology-oriented personnel. Nevertheless, there is a piecemeal but collectively coherent playbook regarding AI risk and governance. Reports deploy ‘justice’ as a bridge between digital, energy, and climate movements. Key contexts include the erosion of safeguards to power concentration in Big AI, expanding extractivism, and constraints on civic activism.

New article!

How are environmental non-governmental organizations setting the agenda on artificial intelligence governance? by Sean Low.

doi.org/10.1080/0964...

Far-right fossil fuel ignorance: the nostalgia of national-industrial modernity Far-right climate change obstruction has been widely noticed in the scholarly literature, and both material and ideational factors have been recognised as playing a part in climate policy backlash....

Very pleased to see this article finally out: Far-right fossil fuel ignorance: the nostalgia of national-industrial modernity (1/4) doi.org/10.1080/0964...

Week in review for Environmental Politics The Friday Post

Week in review! Subscribe for a short weekly round up.

This week we have published three research articles.

open.substack.com/pub/environm...

The article investigates the political consequences of river pollution from illegal gold mining, on electoral behaviour in Ghana’s 2024 general elections. Findings reveal political disengagement: a consistent decline in voter turnout in polluted constituencies.

This study investigates the political consequences of environmental degradation, specifically river pollution from illegal gold mining (‘Galamsey’), on electoral behaviour in Ghana’s 2024 general elections. Utilising constituency-level data, the research combines propensity score matching with difference-in-differences estimation to assess the political impact. Findings reveal a consistent and statistically significant decline in voter turnout in polluted constituencies, suggesting environmental harm fostered political disengagement. However, effects on party vote share were mixed; while support for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) decreased in some affected regions, others saw increases or no significant change, highlighting regional variations. These results imply that environmental grievances did not uniformly translate into partisan backlash but rather into voter withdrawal. The study contributes to environmental politics by quantifying ecological degradation’s effect on political participation, demonstrating the mediation of voting patterns by local political economies, and emphasising ecological issues beyond traditional ethnic and elite political frameworks in African politics.

New article!

Muddy waters: the electoral impact of river pollution from Galamsey in Ghana by Victor Agboga.

doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2025.2609420

The article explores how the Ultima Generazione movement in Italy cultivates different forms of hope in times of climate crisis and ecological breakdown. It argues that hope is not a stable emotion or a fixed starting point, but a fragile, shifting process requiring ongoing care.

In this article I explore how the Ultima Generazione (UG) movement in Italy cultivates different forms of hope in times of climate crisis and ecological breakdown. Based on ethnographic research, I argue that hope is not a stable emotion or a fixed starting point, but a fragile, shifting process requiring ongoing care. I identify two key practices: building a supportive, nonviolent grassroots community, and performing high-risk civil disobedience, such as road blockades or ‘coloring’ monuments and artworks. These practices generate multiple, sometimes conflicting hopes – some rooted in immediate communal survival, others directed toward long-term climate transformation. Rather than a unified feeling or motivational force, hope emerges as an uncertain sensibility shaped by collective action. ‘Cultivating hope’ thus entails a repertoire of practices that nurture, shape, and enact the ways in which hope is felt and sustained.

New article!

Cultivating hope: caring for a precarious emotion in the Ultima Generazione movement by Giacomo Lampredi.

doi.org/10.1080/0964...

Politicians’ reactions to extreme weather events mostly remain a black box. This article’s analysis of plenary debates following the 2021 floods in Germany focuses on the framing competition in the Bundestag and its relationship to legislators’ ideology and constituency linkages.

While a burgeoning literature has investigated the effects of extreme weather events on citizens’ climate attitudes and voting behaviour, politicians’ reactions to such events mostly remain a black box. Our mixed-methods analysis of plenary debates following the 2021 floods in Germany focuses on the framing competition in the Bundestag and its relationship to legislators’ ideology and constituency linkages. While climate change as a cause of the floods is barely discussed, far-right legislators attempt to capitalise on them by blaming governmental and institutional failures in dealing with the tragedy. Climate change adaptation is present in the discourse of most mainstream parties, but advocating for climate change mitigation is a strategy only adopted by the Greens. Our analyses also indicate that legislators react differently depending on their districts’ exposure to floods.

New article!

“Why didn’t the sirens wail on the roofs?”: political framing competition in the German parliament following the 2021 floods by Reja Wyss & Mihail Chiru.

@mihailchiru.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2025.2609431

Uneven green transition across Europe remains a matter of concern. This article shows that locals hold multiple, overlapping identities, which the green transition can unsettle, fuelling social discontent and perceptions of injustice around green transition policies and measures.

European regions long reliant on fossil-intensive energy are undergoing change driven by the European Green Deal, yet the green transition remains uneven across regions. In Estonia’s Ida-Virumaa, one of Europe’s most carbon-intensive regions, the green transition intersects with ethnic diversity, economic precarity, and far-right populism, generating uncertainty in communities whose deep regional ties are rooted in the oil-shale industry and shaped by both the Soviet past and a contested green future. We show that locals hold multiple, overlapping identities, which the green transition can unsettle, fuelling social discontent and perceptions of injustice around green transition policies and measures. The paper further demonstrates how the Estonian far right strategically deploys selective intersectionality by reframing local demands for fairness through identity-selective narratives, such as gender, labour heritage, and land, to broaden political influence while excluding marginalized groups. The findings highlight the need for place-sensitive policies that tackle regional inequalities and strengthen the legitimacy of green transitions.

New article!

Selective intersectionality: far-right populist Re-casting of social discontent in Europe’s green transition by Mahir Yazar, Eeva Kesküla & Annela Anger-Kraavi.

@mahiryazar.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2026.2612815

Week in review for Environmental Politics The Friday Post

Week in review! Subscribe for a short weekly round up.

This week we have published five research articles, two book reviews, and one guest post.

open.substack.com/pub/environm...

How do climate activists interpret capitalism? The article shows that underlying shared anti-capitalist sentiments have significant conceptual differences. Identified patterns challenge simple distinctions between moderate and radical activism and reveal hybrid repertoires.