People_
Dr Robert Macneil
BA, MA York University, PhD University of Ottawa
Deputy Head of School
Senior Lecturer
Senior Lecturer
Phone
+61 2 9351 5081
Address
A02 - Social Sciences Building
The University of Sydney
Details
Member of Sydney Environment Institute
Websites
Robert is a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Politics with the University of Sydney’s Department of Government & International Relations. His research focuses broadly on the relationship between neoliberalism and climate policy, with a particular focus on Anglosphere countries. His recent books include Neoliberalism and Climate Policy in the United States (which looks at the complex influence of market fundamentalist ideology on American climate policy since the 1980s) and Thirty Years of Failure: Understanding Canadian Climate Policy (which looks at the cultural, economic and institutional drivers of climate policy in Canada). Although most of his work focuses on climate change, he is happy to supervise students working across the field of environmental politics, but also areas such as food politics, innovation policy, energy, federalism, IPE theory, and many others.
- Climate change
- Energy politics
- Neoliberalism
- US/Canadian/Australian politics
- GOVT2228 - Environmental Politics
- GOVT6223 - Topics in Environmental Politics
- GOVT6135 - Global Environmental Politics
- GOVT4603 - Wicked Problems & Policy Innovation
| Project title | Research student |
|---|---|
| Networks of influence in ‘Petro-democracies’: A comparative institutional analysis of the fossil fuel lobby in Australia and Norway | Shyam SINGH |
Selected publications
Thirty Years of Failure: Understanding Canadian Climate Policy
(Fernwood Publishing, 2019)
Publications
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Books
- MacNeil, R. (2019). Thirty Years of Failure: Understanding Canadian Climate Policy. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing. [More Information]
- MacNeil, R. (2017). Neoliberalism and Climate Policy in the United States: From Market Fetishism to the Developmental State. Abingdon: Routledge. [More Information]
Journals
- Crellin, C., MacNeil, R. (2023). Extreme weather events and public attention to climate change in Australia. Climatic Change, 176(121). [More Information]
- MacNeil, R., Edwards, G. (2023). The promise and peril of Australian climate leadership under Albanese. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 77(1), 19-25. [More Information]
- MacNeil, R., Beauman, M. (2022). A Marshall Plan for Australia coal country: An investment-led strategy to address resource dependency and fight climate change. Journal of Australian Political Economy, 89, 51-66.
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Textual Creative Works
- MacNeil, R. (2024). Tangled in the Tides: Plastic’s Journey Across a Dying Ocean. Australia: Routledge. [More Information]
Other
- MacNeil, R. (2025), Book Review: "Not The End Of The World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet" by Hannah Ritchie.
Research Reports
- Edwards, G., Hanmer, C., Park, S., MacNeil, R., Bojovic, M., Musil, D., Viney, G. (2022). Towards a Just Transition from Coal in Australia?, Australia: The British Academy.
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2025
- MacNeil, R. (2025), Book Review: "Not The End Of The World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet" by Hannah Ritchie.
2024
- MacNeil, R. (2024). Tangled in the Tides: Plastic’s Journey Across a Dying Ocean. Australia: Routledge. [More Information]
2023
- Crellin, C., MacNeil, R. (2023). Extreme weather events and public attention to climate change in Australia. Climatic Change, 176(121). [More Information]
- MacNeil, R., Edwards, G. (2023). The promise and peril of Australian climate leadership under Albanese. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 77(1), 19-25. [More Information]
2022
- MacNeil, R., Beauman, M. (2022). A Marshall Plan for Australia coal country: An investment-led strategy to address resource dependency and fight climate change. Journal of Australian Political Economy, 89, 51-66.
- Miller, G., MacNeil, R. (2022). Farmer perceptions of climate change and adaptation during the 2017–2020 Australian drought. Australian Journal of Political Science. [More Information]
- MacNeil, R. (2022). Review of Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism by Mariana Mazzucato. Economic Record. [More Information]
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2021
- Dubash, N., Flachsland, C., Harrison, K., Hochstetler, K., Lockwood, M., MacNeil, R., Mildenberger, M., Paterson, M., Teng, F., Tyler, E. (2021). National climate institutions complement targets and policies. Science, 374(6568), 690-693. [More Information]
- MacNeil, R. (2021). On the Immorality and Futility of Canadian Climate Policy under Trudeau. Capitalism Nature Socialism, 32(4), 111-129. [More Information]
- MacNeil, R. (2021). Swimming against the current: Australian climate institutions and the politics of polarisation. Environmental Politics, 30(sup1), 162-183. [More Information]
2020
- MacNeil, R. (2020). Is Canadian carbon pricing here to stay? The outlook after 14 elections. Environmental Politics, 29(2), 354-359. [More Information]
- MacNeil, R., Paterson, M. (2020). Trump, US climate politics, and the evolving pattern of global climate governance. Global Change, Peace and Security, 32(1), 1-18. [More Information]
2019
- MacNeil, R. (2019). Review of 'Environmentalism of the Rich' by Peter Dauvergne. Journal of Australian Political Economy, 81, 203-212.
- MacNeil, R. (2019). Thirty Years of Failure: Understanding Canadian Climate Policy. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing. [More Information]
2018
- MacNeil, R., Paterson, M. (2018). Trudeau's Canada and the challenge of decarbonisation. Environmental Politics, 27(2), 379-384. [More Information]
2017
- MacNeil, R. (2017). Neoliberalism and Climate Policy in the United States: From Market Fetishism to the Developmental State. Abingdon: Routledge. [More Information]
- Lachapelle, E., MacNeil, R., Paterson, M. (2017). The Political Economy of Decarbonisation: From Green Energy 'Race' to Green 'Division of Labour'. New Political Economy, 22(3), 311-327. [More Information]
2016
- MacNeil, R. (2016). Between Innovation and Industrial Policy: How Washington Succeeds and Fails at Renewable Energy. Prometheus (Abingdon), 34(3-4), 173-189. [More Information]
- MacNeil, R. (2016). Death and Environmental Taxes: Why Market Environmentalism Fails in Liberal Market Economies. Global Environmental Politics, 16(1), 21-37. [More Information]
- MacNeil, R., Paterson, M. (2016). This changes everything? Canadian climate policy and the 2015 election. Environmental Politics, 25(3), 553-557. [More Information]
2014
- MacNeil, R. (2014). Canadian environmental policy under Conservative majority rule. Environmental Politics, 23(1), 174-178. [More Information]
- MacNeil, R. (2014). The Decline of Canadian Environmental Regulation: Neoliberalism and the Staples Bias. Studies in Political Economy: a socialist review, 93(Spring), 79-104. [More Information]
2013
- MacNeil, R. (2013). Alternative climate policy pathways in the US. Climate Policy, 13(2), 259-276. [More Information]
- MacNeil, R. (2013). Seeding an Energy Technology Revolution in the United States: Re-conceptualising the Nature of Innovation in 'Liberal-Market Economies'. New Political Economy, 18(1), 64-88. [More Information]
2012
- MacNeil, R., Paterson, M. (2012). Neoliberal climate policy: from market fetishism to the developmental state. Environmental Politics, 21(2), 230-247. [More Information]
2011
- MacNeil, R. (2011). Economic Thought and US Climate Change Policy. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, 29(5).
- MacNeil, R. (2011). Greenhouse Governance: Addressing Climate Change in America. Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, 13(4), 447-449. [More Information]