How is the war in Iran changing China’s decarbonisation path? China relies heavily on fossil fuels, but the security & supply chain risks, & the cost, of relying on imports will encourage China to invest more in renewables writes @mathiaslarsen.bsky.social @gsos-lse.bsky.social @lsebr.bsky.social

How the war in Iran changes China’s decarbonisation path - LSE Business Review

As happened in the 2000s, the security implications of relying on expensive imports through geopolitical bottlenecks will encourage China to invest in renewables.

blogs.lse.ac.uk

New commentary out in @lsebr.bsky.social: "How the war in Iran changes China’s decarbonisation path" In summary, we get slower near-term emissions reductions but faster medium-and long-term reductions - simply because coal can be scaled up fast, even though renewables are cheaper

LSE Business Review@lsebr.bsky.social · last mo.

Two decades ago China's fears about the vulnerability of the Strait of Malacca, through which half of its imported oil had to pass, led directly to its support for clean technologies. Today the Strait may be different, but the fundamental issue is the same. blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessrevi...

Pleased to be cited in @nytimes.com about the motives behind China's development of clean technologies and their role in reducing oil consumption: “The key reason China has developed renewable energy is not for the sake of the climate, it’s for energy security,” www.nytimes.com/2026/06/15/b...

How China Can Move the Price of Oil Even by Not Buying

nytimes.com

New working paper out in LSE @granthamlse.bsky.social's working paper series, co-authored with @cornelban.bsky.social and @jhasselbalch.bsky.social: "Green economic planning as ‘directed entanglement’" www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminst...

Green economic planning as ‘directed entanglement’ - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment

In this paper, the authors propose green economic planning as a framework for states to set ambitious climate plans.

lse.ac.uk

New article out in @socioeconreview.bsky.social with @danieldrisc.com: "The states–markets–decarbonization nexus: reviewing an emerging political economy agenda" doi.org/10.1093/ser/...

The states–markets–decarbonization nexus: reviewing an emerging political economy agenda

Abstract. The problem of climate change further confounds the already complex relationship between states and markets in modern capitalism. In this state o

doi.org

New article out in @ripejournal.bsky.social with @james7jackson.bsky.social"The political economy of China’s green transition." To support non-China specialists working on climate change, we provide a structured approach to understanding China's green transition: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

The political economy of China’s green transition

As China increasingly leads the world in green industries, the country is a critical case for the debate on climate change in political economy. While climate change is now less of a blind spot tha...

tandfonline.com

New commentary article out, published by @gsos-lse.bsky.social @granthamlse.bsky.social I argue that while China has reduced its climate ambitions in its new five-year plan (which is indeed disappointing), this does not mean the country has given up on a green transition.

Grantham Research Institute at LSE@granthamlse.bsky.social · 5mo ago

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan contains less ambitious climate targets in the near term but this does not mean that China has given up on a green transition argues @mathiaslarsen.bsky.social www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminst...

New op-ed out in the Danish media oulet Børsen: "Selling off the state-owned company Ørsted will weaken Danish energy security." Co-authored with @jhasselbalch.bsky.social, @rosiecollington.bsky.social, @voldsgaard.bsky.social, and Søren Lund Frandsen borsen.dk/nyheder/opin...

“Et frasalg af Ørsted vil svække Danmarks energisikkerhed”

“Et frasalg af Ørsted vil svække Danmarks energisikkerhed”Konservative, Liberal Alliance, Dansk Folkeparti og Danmarksdemokraterne har for nylig markeret sig i valgkampen med et fælles udspil om at fr

borsen.dk

Pleased to be quoted in today's @nytimes.com, supporting their reporting on the Iran war with a China angle: “China’s push for renewable energy is not motivated by the environment but by the need for energy security and also as a driver of growth.” www.nytimes.com/2026/03/14/b...

China’s Edge in an Oil Shock: Electric Cars and Renewables

nytimes.com

New article out in Climate Policy with @james7jackson.bsky.social: "Subsidizing global decarbonization: how Chinese state support for clean technologies enables and (potentially) obstructs a worldwide green transition." www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Subsidizing global decarbonization: how Chinese state support for clean technologies enables and (potentially) obstructs a worldwide green transition

Over the last decade, green technologies have been deployed at record-breaking speeds across the world. No actor has been more important to this process than China, which now dominates what is cons...

tandfonline.com

5 postdocs just advertised: Come work with us at the LSE Global School of Sustainability @gsos-lse.bsky.social. With 150 people working full-time on the political economy of decarbonisation, you'd be joining the largest research community on the topic. jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...

Applications are open for the Finance & Democracy Summer Workshop! Looking forward to teaching the session on 'Finance and the Chinese State'

Benjamin Braun@benbraun.eurosky.social · 6mo ago

🚨 The political economy of finance summer school is back, 3rd year running! Better still: We're bringing it to London via @lse-ei.bsky.social. 𝐓𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜: Finance & democracy 𝙳̲̲𝚊̲̲𝚝̲̲𝚎̲: 4-5 June 2026 𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦: March 1. Link below. We've got brilliant instructors as usual. Please spread the word!

New article out in Politics & Society with @danieldrisc.com and @maxkiefel.bsky.social : "Internationalizing Industrial Policy: How China and the United States Use State Capacity to Secure Critical Minerals for Electric Vehicles" journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

New op-ed out in @prospectmagazine.co.uk with @jhasselbalch.bsky.social: "Green growth versus degrowth is a false choice: The growth split in the climate movement only benefits the far right" www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/econom...

Green growth versus degrowth is a false choice

The growth split in the climate movement only benefits the far right

prospectmagazine.co.uk

New commentary piece out in @greencb.bsky.social with @mathiaslarsen.bsky.social in which we discus central bank independence, green monetary policy and the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) - greencentralbanking.com/2026/01/13/c...

China shows monetary independence may hinder net zero progress

Government direction has spurred PBoC to adopt green monetary policy measures, argue economists Mathias Larsen and James Jackson.

greencentralbanking.com

New op-ed out in LSE Business Review @lsebr.bsky.social:

LSE Business Review@lsebr.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Of the four largest central banks, three have failed to turn climate rhetoric into action. blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessrevi...

'Two decades of analysing the state in the green transition: Where are we now?' Mathias Larsen, James Jackson & Environment and Climate Politics Working Group "suggesting that the debate surrounding the conceptus of the state has become overly conflated." 🌳 Full article 👉 https://ow.ly/JYmB50XvChB

Great to see our data used by the @iea.org in their new World Energy Outlook. The outlook uses our data to show the massive increase in Chinese outward investments in clean tech manufacturing.

Pleased to have my research featured in @nytimes.com reporting on China's role in a global green transition www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/c...

A Flood of Green Tech From China Is Upending Global Climate Politics

nytimes.com

New paper out with @james7jackson.bsky.social in the working paper series of @granthamlse.bsky.social: 'Revisiting central bank independence for the climate era: insights from the People’s Bank of China' www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminst...

Revisiting central bank independence for the climate era: insights from the People’s Bank of China - Grantham Research Institute on climate change and the environment

This paper explores the relationship between independence and climate action through an in-depth study of the PBoC, comparing it with Western central banks.

lse.ac.uk

New article out in @lsebr.bsky.social:

LSE Business Review@lsebr.bsky.social · 10mo ago

China leads in renewables capacity but also in greenhouse gas emissions. How do you reconcile these two aspects? @granthamlse.bsky.social

New article out in Ecological Economics with @jhasselbalch.bsky.social: 'Reimagining growth futures: Overcoming the false binary between green growth and degrowth' www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Reimagining growth futures: Overcoming the false binary between green growth and degrowth

When imagining how a green transition can take place, the relationship between economic growth and environmental sustainability is commonly viewed in …

sciencedirect.com

“Chinese overseas FDI is nearing $100 billion per year. The Marshall Plan was $200b—and locked Europe into US tech and standards. When we see sums of this size, we can ask whether it will have a similar effect on the globe.” NEW: @70sbachchan.bsky.social & @mathiaslarsen.bsky.social on the BRI 2.0

I’m excited to have started a job at the LSE as a Senior Policy Fellow, leading the China work at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change & the Environment @granthamlse.bsky.social

New op-ed published in @carnegieendowment.org's China blog, edited by @michaelpettis.bsky.social: “How China’s Growth Model Determines Its Climate Performance: Rather than climate ambitions, compatibility with investment and exports is why China supports both green and high-emission technologies.”

Michael Pettis@michaelpettis.bsky.social · 11mo ago

In the latest issue of CRI, Mathias Larsen discusses China's clean industries in the context of its growth model. carnegieendowment.org/posts/2025/0...

New op-ed out in the @carnegieendowment.org's China-blog edited by @michaelpettis.bsky.social: “How China’s Growth Model Determines Its Climate Performance" carnegieendowment.org/posts/2025/0...

How China’s Growth Model Determines Its Climate Performance

Rather than climate ambitions, compatibility with investment and exports is why China supports both green and high-emission technologies.

carnegieendowment.org

New policy report just published with groundbreaking data showing that China's new global role in the green transition is investing in manufacturing, not financing infrastructure: "China’s Green Leap Outward" www.netzeropolicylab.com/china-green-...

New article with @james7jackson.bsky.social out in Competition & Change: The green versus environmental state: Reviewing two decades of conceptualizing state-led approaches journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

New op-ed out in The Diplomat @thediplomat.com: 'China’s Political System Makes Consumption-led Growth Impossible: Beijing’s prioritization of political security necessitates a reliance on investment and exports – not consumption – to power the economy.' thediplomat.com/2025/08/chin...

China’s Political System Makes Consumption-led Growth Impossible

Beijing’s prioritization of political security necessitates a reliance on investment and exports – not consumption – to power the economy.

thediplomat.com

New article out in World Development: 'Green industrial policy under financial constraints: Insights from India’s state-led decarbonization' www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Green industrial policy under financial constraints: Insights from India’s state-led decarbonization

State financing in different forms is the core of green industrial policy. In spite of severe domestic and international financial constraints, India’…

sciencedirect.com