Kacper Szulecki

The War in Ukraine is All About Democracy vs Dictatorship

A dictatorship has just brutally attacked its democratic neighbor. It’s not the first time in history that happens, but there are good reasons to see the war in Ukraine as the first one defining the conflict lines of this century.

Does security push democracy out of energy governance?

The Chernobyl Effect: Antinuclear Protests and the Molding of Polish Democracy, 1986–1990

The 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe was not only a human and ecological disaster, but also a political-ideological one, severely discrediting Soviet governance and galvanizing dissidents in the Eastern Bloc. In the case of Poland, what began as isolated protests against the Soviet nuclear site grew to encompass domestic nuclear projects in general, and in the process spread across the country and attracted new segments of society. This innovative study, combining scholarly analysis with oral histories and other accounts from participants, traces the growth and development of the Polish anti-nuclear movement, showing how it exemplified the broader generational and cultural changes in the nation’s opposition movements during the waning days of the state socialist era.

Norway needs energy and security policy coherence

Prior to 2022, Norwegian policymakers have hardly considered coherence between energy and security, and the few coordinating elements in place are focused on emergency preparedness. • Keeping policy areas separate and energy de-securitized has helped improve Norway’s position in the old energy world. However, both the progressing European energy transition and new geopolitical threats from Russia increasingly challenge this arrangement. • Lack of policy coherence makes Norwegian governance less effective in dealing both with sudden shocks, like the Nord Stream sabotage, and long-term stress factors, like climatic change. • Formalized coordination mechanisms between ministries and agencies are necessary and will increase both governance effectiveness and accountability. • Existing agency level collaboration on emergency preparedness may be a starting point. • A transition requires significant institutional reorganization which may be difficult to achieve. Old structures and agencies may not support security issues connected to a new kind of energy system.

A functional approach to decentralization in the electricity sector: learning from community choice aggregation in California

Decentralization of the electricity sector has mainly been studied in relation to its infrastructural aspect, particularly location and size of the generation units, and only recently more attention has been paid to the governance aspects. This article examines power sector (de)centralization operationalized along three functional dimensions: political, administrative and economic. We apply this framework to empirically assess the changes in California’s electricity market, which saw the emergence of institutional innovation in the form of community choice aggregation (CCA). Unpacking the Californian case illustrates how decision-making has moved from central state government and regulators to the municipal level in uneven ways and without decentralized generation keeping pace. We also explore the impacts this multidimensional and diversified decentralization has on the ultimate goals of energy transition: decarbonization and energy security. Our framework and empirical findings challenge the conventional view on decentralization and problematize the widespread assumptions of its positive influence on climate mitigation and grid stability.

How to design EU-level contingency plans for gas shortages? Evidence from behavioural economics, policy research and past experience

In this policy report, we lay out suggestions for the European Union to prepare for possible cuts in gas supply from Russia in the context of the war in Ukraine. Such cuts will result in physical shortages of gas and so, potentially the need to limit consumption and at worst, rationing of gas. We draw on historical examples of managing demand and consumption, from energy and other policy areas, and suggest steps that can be taken to design an acceptable and efficient gas saving scheme.

Interpreting cyber-energy-security events: experts, social imaginaries, and policy discourses around the 2016 Ukraine blackout

We analyse the expert debate around a cyber attack in 2016 that caused an electric power blackout in Ukraine. Two expert reports were crucial for interpreting this event, and there are several competing narratives of cybersecurity where the event plays different roles. We show that the most securitized narratives became more prominent and point to the power wielded by private companies and experts in this field.

The European Union's CBAM as a de facto Climate Club: The Governance Challenges

The European Commission has announced far-reaching reforms to accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Among the proposals constituting the European Green Deal is the adoption of a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to prevent carbon leakage. In practice, however, CBAM will not only act as a shield for the European Emissions Trading System (ETS) but also incentivize other countries to implement compatible carbon pricing schemes. We argue that the EU's CBAM thus de facto has the features of a climate club, but the current proposals and debate do not address how the club would be governed, addressing them involves a trade-off between maintaining control over the direction and ambition of climate policy and CBAM's legitimacy.