Pathways to Breaking the Fossil Fuel Lock-in
Pathways to Breaking the Fossil Fuel Lock-in: Assessing the Influence of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals on Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform (2020-2022)
Fossil fuel subsidies persist all over the world, despite their economic and environmental costs. While domestic reforms are underway, it remains unclear how international institutions could support such efforts. This project assesses the pathways through which international environmental institutions, specifically the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals, influence domestic fossil fuel subsidy reforms. The project does so by carrying out a regression analysis of all countries, and in-depth case studies of Canada, India, Indonesia and New Zealand. The project supports the transition to a sustainable energy system by providing knowledge to stakeholders about which pathways are conducive for promoting fossil fuel subsidy reform and overcoming the lock-in of fossil energy.
UEF staff
- Prof. Harro van Asselt
- Dr. Beate Antonich
Project partners and international collaborators
- Dr. Jakob Skovgaard, Lund University, Sweden (PI)
Relevant publications
- Peter Erickson, Harro van Asselt, Doug Koplow, Michael Lazarus, Peter Newell, Naomi Oreskes and Geoffrey Supran (2020). Why Fossil Fuel Producer Subsidies Matter. Nature 578(7793), E1–E4.
- Jakob Skovgaard and Harro van Asselt (Eds.) (2018). The Politics of Fossil Fuel Subsidies and Their Reform. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
- Jakob Skovgaard and Harro van Asselt (2019). The Politics of Fossil Fuel Subsidies and Their Reform: Implications for Climate Change Mitigation. WIREs Climate Change10(4), e581.
- Harro van Asselt and Kati Kulovesi (2017). Seizing the Opportunity: Fossil Fuel Subsidies under the UNFCCC. International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics 17(3), 357–370.
- Harro van Asselt and Tom Moerenhout (2020). Fit for Purpose? Toward Trade Rules that Support Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform and the Clean Energy Transition. Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers.
- Cleo Verkuijl, Harro van Asselt, Tom Moerenhout, Liesbeth Casier and Peter Wooders (2019). Tackling Fossil Fuel Subsidies through International Trade Agreements: Taking Stock, Looking Forward. Virginia Journal of International Law 58(2), 309–368.
- Cleo Verkuijl and Harro van Asselt (2020). Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform: Interactions between International Cooperative Institutions. The More, the Merrier? In Fariborz Zelli, Karin Bäckstrand, Naghmeh Nasiritousi, Jakob Skovgaard and Oscar Widerberg (Eds.), Governing the Climate-Energy Nexus: Institutional Complexity and Its Challenges to Effectiveness and Legitimacy. (pp. 131–155). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.