The green economy challenge to IPE

Abstract

Calls for a transition to a low-carbon energy system, favouring renewable energy sources, energy efficiency and conservation are now entering the mainstream of policy discourse in many sectors and parts of the world, with some measurable effects. This paper explores the transformative nature of these calls on key aspects of the global political economy. It argues that a diverse and increasingly effective discourse coalition is emerging around the concept of energy transition, and looks at how the Transition Movement wishes to reconfigure the nature, the content and the governance of the global political economy. More specifically, it asks how this movement sees the world, what makes up its ontological worldview, and how it wants to change it. This paper further suggests that these calls are accompanied by remarkable changes in global investment patterns in favour of key elements of what can be labelled “the green economy”.