Fossil fuel leadership or fossil-fuelled leadership? The limits of Denmark’s oil and gas production phaseout

Abstract Understanding the limits of existing fossil fuel phaseout policies is key for clarifying the challenges of phasing out fossil fuels. In this article, I focus on Denmark as a prominent example of the tension between ‘fossil fuel leadership’ and ‘fossil-fuelled leadership’ due to the conflict between its self-positioning as a first-moving global climate leader and continued and new oil and gas production despite its phaseout policy. I examine the origins, appeal, and limits of Denmark’s climate and fossil fuel leadership claims and ambitions, using novel data from 27 interviews with key Danish climate and energy stakeholders. I argue that Denmark’s leadership ambitions contain major limitations, because despite its attempt to provide first-mover leadership, Denmark’s fossil fuel policy is insufficient. If even one of the most ambitious supply-side leaders falls short of its responsibility, this shows the need for more credible and extensive fossil fuel phaseouts in the global climate governance architecture to become a serious force for limiting the climate crisis. As climate leadership must be credible to be effective, the Danish case offers important cautionary lessons for policy-makers from other fossil fuel producing countries as well as climate and energy scholars.