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 explain why and how different states adopt such supply-side policies is lacking. Drawing on original interview-based research in four countries that have unilaterally adopted supply-side climate policies and led international initiatives to limit the production of oil and gas (Costa Rica, Colombia, Denmark, and the UK), we identify key lessons that can be derived from the experience of these countries regarding the drivers of these policies and the specific forms they take, before reflecting on what lessons can be drawn for efforts to phase-out fossil fuels elsewhere. We argue that understanding this new frontier in climate governance requires an international political economy approach that links shared material drivers of supply-side climate policy to national institutional responses shaped by countries’ positions in the global political economy, incumbent power structures, and state capacity to manage conflicts among capital, labor, and civil society within and beyond their borders.