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Dr Fergus Green
Room: 3.01, 31 Tavistock Sq.
Email: fergus.green@ucl.ac.uk
Website
- Biography
Fergus began his career as a lawyer in the Melbourne office of Australasian firm Allens Arthur Robinson (now Allens-Linklaters) from 2009–12, where he specialised in climate change, energy, water and environmental regulation. He then spent 7 years at the London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) in various capacities: he obtained an MSc in Philosophy & Public Policy from the Department of Philosophy (2012–13); he was then a Policy Analyst and Research Advisor to Professor Nicholas Stern at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change & the Environment (2014–15); and finally completed an MRes in political science and PhD in political theory in the Department of Government (2015–19). From 2019–21, Fergus was a postdoctoral Researcher on the Fair Limits Project at the Ethics Institute, Utrecht University, and spent a brief stint back at the Grantham Research Institute in mid-2021 before starting at UCL.
Fergus’ research traverses political theory, political economy, public policy and law. Much of his work is concerned with the transition to a low-carbon economy. He is currently working on the ESRC-funded project, “JUSTDECARB—Socially Just and Politically Robust Decarbonisation: A Knowledge Base and Toolkit for Policymakers”, and completing a book project on how governments should deal with transitional winners and losers from legal and policy changes. Through work on Green New Deal-style policy programmes, Fergus is pursuing longstanding interests in how decarbonisation, far from being a “burden”, can provide a basis for building more equal, prosperous and sustainable societies. Fergus has also written widely on the politics and governance of fossil fuels, including on “anti-fossil fuel norms” and the case for supply-side climate policy. He has been a co-author of UNEP’s fossil fuel Production Gap Report each year since its inception in 2019.
- Publications
Journal Articles (selection)
- "Fossil Free Zones: a proposal" (2022) Climate Policy (Online First).
- “How Inequality Fuels Climate Change: The Climate Case for a Green New Deal” (2022) One Earth 5(6): 635–649 (with N. Healy).
- “On the Merits and Limits of Nationalising the Fossil Fuel Industry” (2022). In J. Baggini (Ed.), Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplements, Volume 91—A Philosophers' Manifesto: Ideas and Arguments to Change the World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 53–80 (with I. Robeyns).
- “Ecological limits: science, justice, policy, and the good life” (2021) Philosophy Compass, 16(6), e12740.
- “Engaged Climate Ethics” (2020) Journal of Political Philosophy. Online First (with E. Brandstedt).
- “Legal Transitions without Legitimate Expectations” (2020) Journal of Political Philosophy 28: 397–420.
- “Transitional assistance policies for just, equitable and smooth low-carbon transitions: who, what and how?” (2020) Climate Policy 20(8): 902–921 (with A. Gambhir).
- “Cutting with Both Arms of the Scissors: the economic and political case for restrictive supply-side climate policies” (2018) 150 Climatic Change 73–87 (with R. Denniss).
- “Anti-Fossil Fuel Norms” (2018) 150 Climatic Change 103–116.
“China’s changing economy: implications for its carbon dioxide emissions” (2017) 17 Climate Policy 423–442 (with N. Stern).
For a full list of publications, see https://fergusgreen.net/publications
- Teaching
As of 2022-23, Fergus teaches:
- Ethics and Public Policy (POLS0063)
- Environmental and Climate Justice (POLS0101)
Fergus is interested in supervising research students on contemporary political theory (especially the normative analysis of public policy), and on the politics and governance of climate change and low-carbon transitions.
