Climate action and energy transitions: between opportunities and trade-offs

Journal article

This paper examines whether and where, in the decade following the Paris Agreement, the political logic of linking energy transition and climate action has delivered the anticipated transformative outcomes. I argue that, while the coupling of mitigation targets with green industrial policy has spurred rapid technological progress in renewables and electrification, it has also revealed structural tensions between the political economies of energy security and climate ambition. Through a comparative analysis of Europe, China, the United States and emerging economies in the Global South, the paper shows that material complementarities, political incentives, and institutional credibility are necessary but not individually sufficient conditions for a durable energy–climate alignment. Across regions, energy transitions have frequently advanced for reasons disconnected from climate governance, and crises have exposed the fragility of this linkage. The paper concludes that enduring decarbonization requires recognizing the distinct distributional logics behind energy versus climate politics, and designing strategies capable of integrating them without assuming automatic synergy.

Authors: Genovese, F

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Societa Editrice il Mulino
• Journal: Stato e Mercato
• Volume: 136
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 35-58
• Publication date: 2026-04-01
• DOI: 10.1425/121290
• ISSN: 0392-9701
• ISBN: 9788815428011
• Language: English