In Existential Politics: Why Global Climate Institutions Are Failing and How to Fix Them, Jessica F. Green argues that the shortcomings of global climate governance are not surprising—but stem from a fundamental misdiagnosis of the problem itself. For three decades, governments have focused on managing emissions through measurement, reporting, carbon pricing, offsets, and net-zero commitments. This technical approach, she contends, treats climate change as a problem of “managing tons,” while overlooking the deeper political conflicts embedded in the transition away from fossil fuels. Green reframes climate change as an existential political struggle over asset revaluation. Decarbonization creates winners and losers: fossil asset owners stand to lose trillions and are therefore incentivized to slow the transition, while green asset owners remain comparatively weak. The book proposes rethinking the role of international tax, finance, and trade institutions to build the political power necessary for meaningful decarbonization.
About the Speaker
Jessica F. Green is a political scientist working at the intersection of politics, policy and law. Her research focuses on global governance, the politics of decarbonization, carbon pricing, and non-state actors. Her research examines how non-state actors – including firms and NGOs – and institutions outside the multilateral system can solve global environmental problems. Her recent work examines why the Paris Agreement is failing, and how reforming international trade and finance institutions presents a more promising avenue for meaningful progress on decarbonization.
She holds a PhD from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, an MPA from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and a BA in Public Policy from Brown University. Currently, she is a Professor of Political Science, with appointments at the School of Environment and the Munk School.
Her work has been published in a variety of journals including Nature, Nature Climate Change, Global Environmental Politics, International Organization and International Studies Quarterly, among others.
