Asset Revaluation and the Existential Politics of Climate Change

2020/12/21 by Jeff D. Colgan, Jessica F. Green, Jessica Green +2 · 1 voice · 55 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Asset (computer security) #CONTEST #Climate Change Policy and Economics #Climate change #Development economics #Economic system #Economics #Existentialism #Incentive #Law #Market economy #Natural resource economics #Political economy #Political economy of climate change #Political science #Politics

paper · pdf · doi:10.1017/s0020818320000296

published in International Organization 75(2), 586-610 (University of Cambridge)

openalex publication_date 2020/12/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/11

Abstract

Abstract Whereas scholars have typically modeled climate change as a global collective action challenge, we offer a dynamic theory of climate politics based on the present and future revaluation of assets. Climate politics can be understood as a contest between owners of assets that accelerate climate change, such as fossil fuel plants, and owners of assets vulnerable to climate change, such as coastal property. To date, obstruction by “climate-forcing” asset holders has been a large barrier to effective climate policy. But as climate change and decarbonization policies proceed, holders of both climate-forcing and “climate-vulnerable” assets stand to lose some or even all of their assets' value over time, and with them, the basis of their political power. This dynamic contest between opposing interests is likely to intensify in many sites of political contestation, from the subnational to transnational levels. As it does so, climate politics will become increasingly existential, potentially reshaping political alignments within and across countries. Such shifts may further undermine the Liberal International Order (LIO); as countries develop pro-climate policies at different speeds and magnitudes, they will have incentives to diverge from existing arrangements over trade and economic integration.

Citations

• Diplomacy and domestic politics: the logic of two-level games
• The Regime Complex for Climate Change
• Challenges to the Liberal Order: Reflections onInternational Organization

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Discussions

• 4. Jeff Colgan, Jessica F. Green, & Thomas N. Hale, "Asset Revaluation and the Existential Politics of Climate Change" doi.org/10.1017/S002... 5. Jordan McAllister & Keith Schnakenberg "Designing th [bsky, 1 points, 0 comments]

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