The political feasibility of disruptive policies: Fossil fuel divestment and the 'Norwegian Paradox'

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to get a better understanding of how norms affect the political feasibility of disruptive policies. It does by analyzing two cases of fossil fuel divestment from the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) in 2015 and 2019. Fossil fuel divestment is argued to be a disruptive policy measure because it seeks to delegitimize carbon in a way that may contribute to unlocking the energy systems from fossil fuels. Disruptive policies are defined as policies seeking to destabilize the old carbon regime. Though it is suggested to be an essential part of climate policy mixes, analysis of nations’ climate policies indicates a lack of disruptive policies. So far, most of the attention has been paid to policies designed to support disruptive innovations, the creation of new technologies, instead of policies disrupting the old. By studying how norms affect the political feasibility of disruptive policies, it may lead to a deeper understanding of how to achieve a more balanced climate policy mix. The paper concludes that we should pay more attention to the role of divestment in the sustainable transition, both in terms of the mechanisms creating political feasibility for adopting such measures, but also regarding its potential effect on the climate.