Green transition [What Think Tanks are thinking]

Written by Marcin Grajewski.

The United States, China and the European Union are making more and more funds available for the green economic transition and efforts to fight climate change. Increased government spending on green technologies also serves the goal of establishing or expanding industries that have emerged as strategic at a time of global warming, as well as providing quality jobs. This subsidy race is strongly affected by the technological rivalry between China and the US.

However, the race in governments’ support to develop or strengthen sectors such as batteries, electronic vehicles, solar panels, wind turbines and many others, may not be the best solution for decarbonising the economy, some think-tank analysts say. It risks a downward race among governments, and suboptimal allocation of resources.

This note offers links to recent reports and commentaries from some major international think tanks and research institutes on the green transition. Analyses on EU clean tech and industrial policies can be found a previous edition of What think tanks are thinking.

Green hydrogen: Loaded up and (long-haul) trucking
Atlantic Council, May 2023

Europe’s policies for a green transition: The European Commission’s geopolitical turn and its pitfalls
Finnish Institute for International Relations, May 2023

Industrial policy for electric vehicle supply chains and the US-EU fight over the Inflation Reduction Act
Peterson Institute for International Economics, May 2023

The US and the EU want to create a hydrogen economy: They need the BIS in BRICS
Peterson Institute for International Economics, May 2023

“Carbon management”: Opportunities and risks for ambitious climate policy
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, May 2023

Building a prosperous world with fewer emissions
Brookings Institution, April 2023

Green transition: Create a European energy agency
Bruegel, April 2023

North Sea Summit: Blowing in the wind?
Bruegel, April 2023

Mobilising transition finance will require credible corporate climate plans
Bruegel, April 2023

Why Europe’s critical raw materials strategy has to be international
Bruegel, April 2023

Rising to the challenge: EU actorness in climate policy and its global impact
Centre for European Policy Studies, April 2023

Europe’s pursuit of securing critical raw materials for the green transition
Chatham House, April 2023

The Critical Raw Materials Act: Digging in the dirt for a sustainable future
Climate Foresight, April 2023

Pour fabriquer une électricité non polluante, avoir un horizon de long terme
Fondation Jean Jaurès, April 2023

Greenhouse gas emissions in the EU
Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, April 2023

Rise in coal use and decline in hydropower cancelled out EU gains in renewables this year
Peterson Institute for International Economics, April 2023

“Made in America” puts the brakes on electric vehicles Biden hopes to push
Peterson Institute for International Economics, April 2023

Can China’s green energy acceleration put at risk the West’s hydrogen plans?
Rand Corporation, April 2023

The green, digital and social transitions: Towards a new Eco-social pact
Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, March 2023

Energy and climate challenges will continue in 2023
Brookings Institution, March 2023

Developing countries are key to climate action
Brookings Institution, March 2023

The ‘Green Golden Rule’ for the green transition
Bruegel, March 2023

The potential of sovereign sustainability-linked bonds in the drive for net-zero
Bruegel, March 2023

The Net-Zero Industry Act puts EU credibility at risk
Bruegel, March 2023

Climate adaptation: The race to cool down Europe’s cities
European Policy Centre, March 2023

Energy prices, not us subsidies, are Europe’s biggest headache
Centre for European Policy Studies, March 2023

What the IPCC report means for global action on 1.5°C
Chatham House, March 2023

Climate action in China
Chatham House, March 2023

Europe’s green industrial policy and the United States’ IRA: Reducing dependence on China
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik, March 2023

Certification of carbon dioxide removals evaluation of the Commission proposal
Ecologic Institute, March 2023

Blowing in the balance: Europe’s wind industry
Friends of Europe, March 2023

Que faut-il retenir du European Critical Raw Materials Act
Institut de relations internationales et stratégiques, March 2023

Building climate resilience in urban informal settlements through data co-production
Istituto Affari Internazionali, March 2023

Four lessons on the interaction between climate change mitigation policies and social behaviour
Real Instituto Elcano, March 2023

A permanent EU Investment Fund for tackling the climate and energy crisis
Österreichische Gesellschaft für Europapolitik, March 2023

The role of the ocean in climate policy
Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, March 2023

Power play: How the US benefits if China greens the Global South
Brookings Institution, February 2023

Climate versus trade? Reconciling international subsidy rules with industrial decarbonisation
Bruegel, February 2023

Climate action, social justice, and democracy: Europe’s new trilemma
Carnegie Europe, February 2023

Plugging green power into the EU-ASEAN partnership
Clingendael, Feruary 2023

For a green European industrial policy
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik, February 2023

A European green deal diplomacy toolbox
E3G, February 2023

Strategy and risk: How to make the Green Deal Industrial Plan a geoeconomic success
European Council on Foreign Relations, February 2023

The power of pragmatism: Nuclear energy, technological innovation, and the green transition
European Council on Foreign Relations, February 2023

Decarbonise and democratise: How the European Green Deal could transform high-carbon economies
European Council on Foreign Relations, February 2023

EU poised to copy US subsidies for green technology: New evidence from China shows how it could backfire
Kiel Institute for the World Economy, February 2023

The US-EU race for green subsidies can help fight climate change
Peterson Institute for International Economics, February 2023

Where is the carbon premium? Global performance of green and brown stocks
Brookings Institution, January 2023

Carbon farming co-benefits: Approaches to enhance and safeguard biodiversity
Ecologic, Institute for European Environmental Studies, January 2023

More than just a petrol station: Norway’s contribution to European Union’s green strategic autonomy
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, January 2023

Read this briefing on ‘Green transition‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.