Lukas Slothuus
@lslothuus.bsky.social
Climate and energy politics | Postdoc at the University of Sussex researching fossil fuel phaseouts @suspol.bsky.social | Visiting Fellow at LSE | PhD in Politics from the University of Edinburgh | www.lukasslothuus.com
The release of the latest Statistical Review of World Energy is a reality check on the climate transition. While we debate whether 'net zero' costs or create jobs, we need to come back to why we need to reduce emissions. We're on track for 3C tinyurl.com/5d4wymfy
"In other words, if the fossil fuel industry does not fight tooth and nail against a phaseout policy, it might well be because it is already defanged from the outset. Ironically, perhaps the saving grace of fossil fuelled leadership is to sharpen the contradictions inherent in the fossil fuel...
Lukas Slothuus@lslothuus.bsky.social · 2mo agoNEW ARTICLE: Denmark is often celebrated as a template for phasing out fossil fuels. Yet in this new article, I coin the term “fossil-fuelled leadership” to conceptualise a phenomenon where climate leadership on fossil fuels is twinned with continued extraction. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
NEW ARTICLE: Denmark is often celebrated as a template for phasing out fossil fuels. Yet in this new article, I coin the term “fossil-fuelled leadership” to conceptualise a phenomenon where climate leadership on fossil fuels is twinned with continued extraction. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Fossil fuel leadership or fossil-fuelled leadership? The limits of Denmark’s oil and gas production phaseout - International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics
Understanding the limits of existing fossil fuel phaseout policies is key for clarifying the challenges of phasing out fossil fuels. In this article, I focus on Denmark as a prominent example of the t...
link.springer.com
Why would a country leave billions of dollars of oil & gas in the ground? On a narrow economic view it looks irrational: walking away from profit, jobs and geopolitical leverage, and picking a fight with one of the most powerful industries on earth. And yet it's happening🧵
How and why do some countries restrict their fossil fuel production? We explore this in @ripejournal.bsky.social, based on fieldwork in 🇩🇰Denmark, 🇬🇧the UK, 🇨🇴Colombia & 🇨🇷Costa Rica. tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... Co-authored with @peternewell.bsky.social, @freddiedaley.bsky.social, and Dani Soto.
Why do countries adopt supply-side policies? The international political economy of fossil fuel phaseouts
Ambitious goals to limit global heating cannot be achieved without significant efforts to cut fossil fuel production. Yet, comparative analysis of the international political economy dynamics that ...
tandfonline.com
Last year, a municipality in Denmark made bus travel free for everyone. What happened? Passenger numbers nearly doubled! The new government is now making all public transport (including trains) in the whole country will be made free for under 22 year olds: bit.ly/4vrkUtS
Why do countries adopt supply-side climate policies? Our latest paper on the political economy of fossil fuel phase outs @freddiedaley.bsky.social @lslothuus.bsky.social & Daniela Soto Hernández in @ripejournal.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Why do countries adopt supply-side policies? The international political economy of fossil fuel phaseouts
Ambitious goals to limit global heating cannot be achieved without significant efforts to cut fossil fuel production. Yet, comparative analysis of the international political economy dynamics that ...
tandfonline.com
I wrote a piece for @tribunemagazine.bsky.social on the historic Santa Marta conference that addressed how, not if, to phase out fossil fuels. It named the problem, forged new alliances and drew attention to the legal and financial architectures that block phaseouts tribunemag.co.uk/2026/05/lett...
Letter From Santa Marta
Last month, representatives from dozens of countries gathered in Colombia to chart a path beyond fossil fuels. The event reflects a new climate politics taking shape across the Global South.
tribunemag.co.uk
I wrote a short piece for @theconversation.com explaining my research on Sweden's fossil fuel exploration+extraction ban, and how other non-producers can learn from it – and how this connects to the Santa Marta conference on the transition away from fossil fuels: theconversation.com/why-swedens-...
Why Sweden’s ban on fossil fuel production matters, despite not producing any itself – new research
The ban prevents future fossil fuel production in Sweden – but that’s just the start.
theconversation.com
In recent months there’s been a lot of talk about the ‘dark’ fleet, the ‘shadow’ or the ‘ghost’ fleet. For a while now I have felt that people use these terms without really examining their origins nor the assumptions that come with invoking them, so I wrote about why I think this is a problem:
Four Questions About the So-Called ‘Shadow’ Fleet
In recent months there’s been a lot of talk about the ‘dark’ fleet, or the ‘shadow’ or the ‘ghost’ fleet.
open.substack.com
NEW ARTICLE: How can fossil fuel non-producer contribute to the transition away from fossil fuels? 🇸🇪🛑Drawing on extensive interview data from my fieldwork in Sweden, I trace the political dynamics of Sweden’s 2022 fossil fuel exploration and extraction ban: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Symbolic wins as stepping stones toward material gains: Lessons from Sweden’s fossil fuel production ban
How and why do some countries without ongoing fossil fuel exploration and extraction decide to unilaterally ban such activities? As part of a global m…
sciencedirect.com
I was interviewed by @theguardian.com on the right-wing backlash against solar power in Denmark: www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m... This came off the back of my article on this for @lseeuroppblog.bsky.social: blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2...
Has the Danish government quietly abandoned its commitment to the Paris Agreement? 🇩🇰 In this piece for @klimamonitor.dk, Jens Friis Lund, @jptilsted.bsky.social, and I call on the government to reiterate their support for the Paris goals. (English in the replies) klimamonitor.dk/nyheder/deba...
Forskere: Er regeringen ved at underminere Parisaftalen uden at fortælle os det?
Klimaministeren har med sine udtalelser sået tvivl om Danmarks engagement til ambitiøs klimahandling. Danmarks klimapolitik halter også efter, skriver tre forskere.
klimamonitor.dk
Following the price surge, the British right are pedalling a fantasy of self-sufficiency through North Sea oil. This has no serious basis in reality. Britain has been a net energy importer for 20 years. It has nothing to do with net zero and everything to do with decades of declining production🧵
The key players in North Sea oil and gas production decline and job losses haven't been government ministers or regulators. It's private companies who closed down fields and refineries as majors like BP and Shell exited and passed them on to smaller firms.
Fossil fuel stocks are exploding in response to the war on Iran. Who stands to benefit? The richest of the rich. Who stands to lose? All of us who have to pay higher prices for energy and a new round of sellers' inflation.
The "Overflowing Bucket" framework by @fergusgreen.bsky.social is really useful to challenge new oil and gas fields. I used it in my public hearing response against INEOS' application for oil and gas extraction from the controversial Hejre field in the Danish North Sea. www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...
Check out our new article "Power in Fossil Fuel Supply-Side Policy: Closing Down and Opening Up Opportunities to Phase Out Fossil Fuel Production" co-authored with @peternewell.bsky.social @freddiedaley.bsky.social and Daniela Soto Hernandez in @gepjournal.bsky.social direct.mit.edu/glep/article...
Power in Fossil Fuel Supply-Side Policy: Closing Down and Opening Up Opportunities to Phase Out Fossil Fuel Production
Abstract. Supply-side climate policy initiatives that restrict fossil fuel production are gathering momentum. A growing body of academic scholarship seeks to understand this new frontier in global cli...
direct.mit.edu
From an actual expert bsky.app/profile/lslo...
Lukas Slothuus@lslothuus.bsky.social · 5mo agoAs an academic born and raised in Denmark who researches and writes about Danish politics, I can confidently say that Cowley has no idea what he’s talking about. The piece is full of factual errors and falsehoods
Nominally serious media outlets produce so much nonsense about Danish politics. They are full of factual errors. “Denmark” in the political discourse of other countries has become a phantasm to justify their rightwing policy demands. It has very little to do with empirical reality in the country.
Lukas Slothuus@lslothuus.bsky.social · 5mo agoAs an academic born and raised in Denmark who researches and writes about Danish politics, I can confidently say that Cowley has no idea what he’s talking about. The piece is full of factual errors and falsehoods
Opposition to solar power has become a key electoral battleground in Denmark. Policymakers must return to the community-led ownership models that defined Denmark’s success with wind power – @lslothuus.bsky.social @suspol.bsky.social @lsegovernment.bsky.social for @lseeuroppblog.bsky.social
Home - LSE European Politics
Read the latest research and academic commentary on the key issues affecting Europe, covering economics, politics, elections, climate change and business.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
Denmark is often seen as a green frontrunner, but a recent backlash against solar power has thrown this into question. ✍ @lslothuus.bsky.social @lsegovernment.bsky.social @sussex.ac.uk blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2...
How a solar energy backlash engulfed Danish politics
Faced with a solar backlash led by the Denmark Democrats, Denmark must return to the community-led ownership models that defined its success with wind power.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
How do right-wing/far-right politicians politicise opposition to solar power and obstruct climate action? For @lseeuroppblog.bsky.social I explain the Denmark Democrats' success and how learning from community-owned wind power might reverse the backlash against solar blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2...
How a solar energy backlash engulfed Danish politics
Faced with a solar backlash led by the Denmark Democrats, Denmark must return to the community-led ownership models that defined its success with wind power.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
This week for @the-breakdown.bsky.social I spoke to the excellent @annpettifor.bsky.social about finance and the climate crisis—we covered everything from bond vigilantes to Keynes's legacy and bringing back usury as a sin 😉 Give it a listen below: www.youtube.com/watch?v=psMM...
Ann Pettifor on how Wall Street gambles with your future
YouTube video by The BREAK—DOWN
youtube.com
Jacobin republished my article on Greenland:
Jacobin@jacobinmag.bsky.social · 7mo agoThe Trump administration says it wants Greenland for its natural resources. But that’s largely fantasy: while the island has critical minerals and fossil fuels, there’s almost no infrastructure to extract them. The real motives are likely geopolitical.
🇲🇽 My article on Greenland's natural resources was translated into Spanish and published by Forbes México: forbes.com.mx/por-que-los-...
Por qué los vastos recursos naturales de Groenlandia no necesariamente se traducirán en enormes beneficios
El valor de estos recursos es difícil de estimar, ya que los precios del petróleo y de las materias primas críticas fluctúan enormemente.
forbes.com.mx
Like in Venezuela, the immense investments in fixed capital needed to extract a lot of Greenland's resources makes short term profit very difficult. Rather, it's about imperial ambitions. Interesting piece by @lslothuus.bsky.social
Lukas Slothuus@lslothuus.bsky.social · 7mo agoIt's imperialism, stupid! Natural resources are not the reason the US wants control over Greenland. I explain why in my new @theconversation.com article on Greenland's critical raw materials and fossil fuels in US expansionist ambition. Read the article here: theconversation.com/why-greenlan...
My article on Greenland's natural resources was translated and published in Danish by @videnskab.dk: videnskab.dk/kultur-samfu...
Grønlands enorme naturressourcer fører ikke nødvendigvis til økonomisk gevinst
Grønlands rige undergrund frister stormagterne, men vilkår og risici gør udvindingen usikker og meget vanskelig.
videnskab.dk
Spoke to The Independent on Trump’s threat of 25% tariffs on any country trading with Iran. It is economic warfare. This kind of erratic trade coercion raises the risk of doing business with the US, accelerates its isolation, and fuels global de-dollarisation www.independent.co.uk/news/world/m...
Why Trump’s sweeping 25% Iran tariffs have revived fears of global trade war
Experts have warned of global economic and political ramifications if the policy is implemented
independent.co.uk
