CEENRG Thursday seminars: 'New state capitalism and state responsibility for climate change'

Speaker: Dr Arjuna Dibley (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore)

The Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy, and Natural Resource Governance (C-EENRG) is hosting a seminar series throughout the 2025-26 academic year.

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are the most important global suppliers of fossil fuels and contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. State responsibility for such conduct under international law rests largely on whether the state has exercised sufficient control or regulatory due diligence over such firms. Existing scholarship prefers the latter argument, but it has not clearly identified the full extent to which SOEs are involved in the economic structures of states which drive global warming. Under ‘new state capitalism,’ SOEs are involved in directly producing emissions, supplying fossil fuels, and enabling emissions through finance and infrastructure investments. Considering the broader state capitalist structures of emissions, and drawing on doctrinal arguments, case studies and emissions data on SOEs, this paper puts forward new approaches and arguments for state-attributed responsibility for SOE climate conduct and argues that this avenue may be more likely to succeed than previously thought.

Seminars take place as hybrid meetings (in person seminars in the DAB - David Attenborough Building + online in Zoom) every Thursday (please check precise time as may vary) during the term. Please register online to receive the Zoom link on the day of the seminar. Everyone is welcome!