Credibility and Energy Transitions in the Global South

• In Event: Comparative Politics and the Energy Transition

Abstract

Developing countries will suffer the worst impacts from climate change and also represent significant sources of future emissions, which makes them an essential part of the solution. So why has the energy transition been so slow in the developing world? Applying the framework from Gazmararian and Tingley (2023), we argue that government credibility challenges contribute the climate policy impasse in developing countries. We explore why these credibility challenges exist and how they could be overcome with solutions that include international institutions as an external commitment device. The study contributes to the comparative politics of the energy transition, highlighting the similarities and differences that countries in the Global North and South face when enacting costly political reforms.

Authors

• Alexander Foster Gazmararian, Princeton

• Dustin Halliday Tingley, Harvard University