Environmental Politics

ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/fenp20

Global energy politics

by Thijs Van de Graaf and Benjamin K. Sovacool, Cambridge, UK; Medford,
MA, Polity, 2020, £55.00 (hardback), ISBN 978-1-509-53048-9; £17.99
(paperback), ISBN 978-1-509-53049-6

Joel Terwilliger

To cite this article: Joel Terwilliger (2021) Global energy politics, Environmental Politics, 30:3,
488-490, DOI: 10.1080/09644016.2020.1865727

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2020.1865727

Published online: 21 Dec 2020.

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488 BOOK REVIEWS

improvements. Fundamentally, these institutional analyses show how political sys­

tems shape environmental policymaking and implementation in the context of
Chinese authoritarianism.
While acknowledging that China’s environmental governance has made clear
progress under Xi, Huang adamantly rejects the idea that this posits China’s
authoritarian system as a viable alternative, let alone superior, to liberal democ­
racies. According to him, China follows the path of pollute-first, clean-up later,
pioneered by industrialized countries; the difference is that China pays a higher
price with greater unintended and unwanted consequences due to fundamental
flaws in the authoritarian political system.
Huang has a firm grasp of Chinese politics and the book skillfully combines
scholarly analysis, media reports, and his own observations to produce a compelling
and vivid account that is very readable and comprehensive. Possibly the only weak­
ness of the book is its lack of a powerful, overarching message, other than the fact that
environmental health is a life and death issue in China, both at the personal level and
for the party-state. This deficiency is possibly due to the fact that environmental
politics in China is a multifaceted and rapidly evolving phenomenon that is difficult
to pin down. This book is not theoretically oriented and does not explicitly engage in
academic debates; rather, it is written for the general public. Nevertheless, this
informative and empirically rich book will serve as a useful textbook on China’s
environmental health and policy at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Kevin Lo
Department of Geography, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong,
Hong Kong
lokevin@hkbu.edu.hk http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7721-4726
© 2020 Kevin Lo
https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2020.1864841

Global energy politics

Global energy politics, by Thijs Van de Graaf and Benjamin K. Sovacool,

Cambridge, UK; Medford, MA, Polity, 2020, £55.00 (hardback), ISBN 978-1-
509-53048-9; £17.99 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-509-53049-6

The global transition to renewables is underway, yet few people recognize that
the ways energy is produced and consumed shapes the wealth of nation-states,
the fate of political leaders, and international relations. As the cost of renewables
gains parity with fossil fuels in most parts of the world this year, 2020 marks
a critical juncture in energy politics, not only for the global balance of power but
also for the political and moral choices we make about the kind of post-covid19
society we want to live in. Global Energy Politics is an excellent and nuanced
 ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS 489

analysis of the global energy system and the important ramifications its trans­
formation has for international relations and energy politics and governance.
Beyond a narrow focus on geopolitical or technical issues, Global Energy
Politics frames key questions policymakers, industry, and even consumers need
to address, including the following: ensuring equitable access to electricity,
coordinating lowering energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, mediating the
weaponization of energy, and realizing a just transition, including mitigating
trade-offs in local energy democracy.
The authors help the reader conceptualize energy’s influence on geopolitics
and the distinctiveness of global energy governance challenges through a broad
socio-technical lens, reflecting the constellation of energy production (supply)
and demand (consumption) systems and their broader social and cultural con­
texts. Van de Graaf and Sovacool observe that we are on the cusp of a global
energy shift on par with the historical shifts from wood to coal and from coal to
oil which promise to have equally profound repercussions for the global contest
for wealth and power. The ongoing energy transformation will not only upend
the distribution of global political power; it could also fundamentally shift
centralized political authority away from the nation-state, empowering new
actors such as citizens, cities, and regions to independently generate their own
energy through more decentralized renewable energy systems.
Van de Graaf and Sovacool also highlight other impacts increased renew­
ables would have, such as new cybersecurity (protecting smart energy grids
and other systems) and mineral access (e.g. components for green energy
technology) concerns, conflict arising from social dislocation (e.g. coal
miners losing jobs), and a breakdown in the global financial system caused
by the risk of unusable (or stranded) fossil fuel energy assets. The authors
also point out the upside of renewables, such as providing competition for
oil and gas, increased potential for mitigating the global security threat of
climate change, and the possibility for developing countries to leapfrog to
off-grid renewables that do not require the historically substantial fossil fuel-
based infrastructure investments.
The authors demonstrate that energy is the essential conduit for trade, the
provision of peace and security, job markets, economic development, and other
core components of the global economy and international relations. Van de Graaf
and Sovacool also examine global energy investments, why it has been so difficult
to shift the dependence on fossil fuels, and the disruption renewables would bring,
including creating winners and losers in the global economy, giving more foreign-
policy autonomy and energy independence to importers of fossil fuels, and leaving
countries highly dependent on fossil fuel revenues vulnerable. Global economic
growth and accompanying changes in lifestyles have been energy-intensive, and
developing countries have yet to hit their peak energy demand. Van de Graaf and
Sovacool argue how we meet this anticipated growth in global energy demand at
an acceptable cost while also reducing carbon emissions is one of the biggest
challenges of the 21st century.
490 BOOK REVIEWS

The book’s authors highlight the current remit of energy policy largely only
encompasses energy security, which fails to recognize its permeable boundaries,
shaping and being shaped by fiscal policy, foreign policy, social and health policy,
science and technology policy, climate policy, and other government concerns.
The book examines the energy policy dynamics in the US, EU, China, India,
Russia, Brazil, and South Africa to compare how established and emerging
powers grapple with competing frames and trade-offs in energy policymaking.
Van de Graaf and Sovacool suggest a better understanting of the spectrum of
strategic energy concerns may hold the key to a future sustainable global energy
transition; they argue, if left on autopilot, the cost of climate change will
disproportionately fall on the weakest and less developed countries while the
benefits if any will likely accrue to the rich and powerful.
The book outlines why the energy sector poses problems for good governance;
traces a rise in climate action from city mayors, companies, and other sub- and non-
state actors; and growing global climate activism demand for a low carbon transition
inclusive of key questions of social justice, equity, and local energy democracy. Van
de Graaf and Sovacool argue contemporary analysts, policymakers, and consumers
need to consider the moral and ethical dimensions of modern energy systems
alongside the usual technical, economic, political, or even cultural ones; they stress
that energy planning, policymaking, and research processes should employ more
inclusive and participatory approaches to move toward energy justice.
The authors also point out the barriers facing existing climate-friendly tech­
nologies are tenacious, interconnected, and deeply embedded in our social
fabric, institutional norms, and modes of production across the world. Van de
Graaf and Sovacool argue a just transition could require that the state intervenes
more actively in the political economy (e.g. create green sector jobs) in part to
offset abandoned fossil fuel-based sectors as well as address barriers to the uptake
and expansion of clean energy.
In summary, Global Energy Politics is a must read for all those interested in
understanding the history, complexities, challenges, and opportunities of the
ongoing shift from fossil fuels in the global energy system. The book makes an
important contribution to why the future of the energy transformation is highly
political, uncertain, and contested while also providing possible ways of identify­
ing synergies and opportunities as well as much needed hope for a new world as
we pick up the pieces from the corona pandemic.

Joel Terwilliger
University of Technology Sydney, Auckland, New Zealand
joel.terwilliger@alumni.uts.edu.au http://orcid.org/0000-0003-
4893-2846
© 2020 Joel Terwilliger
https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2020.1865727