🇨🇴Ahead of Colombia hosting the world’s first international conference for the transition away from fossil fuels in a few weeks, all levers need to be pulled, all opportunities explored. @suspol.bsky.social @sussex.ac.uk @peternewell.bsky.social
Read and share: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
NEW ARTICLE: How can fossil fuel non-producer contribute to the transition away from fossil fuels?
🇸🇪🛑Drawing on extensive interview data from my fieldwork in Sweden, I trace the political dynamics of Sweden’s 2022 fossil fuel exploration and extraction ban: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Climate policy is often framed as incentives or bans.
But evidence from Switzerland’s heating sector points to a smarter middle path: quasi-bans.
New piece from @paoyanguas.bsky.social & @jmarkard.bsky.social sets out what can be gained from this approach👇
www.sussex.ac.uk/research/pro...
Towards an orderly and just exit from fossil fuels academic.oup.com/ia/article/d...
My latest article in @iajournal.bsky.social
@suspol.bsky.social @sussexsrp.bsky.social @sussexfss.bsky.social @fossilexit.bsky.social @fossiltreaty.bsky.social
Opposition to solar power has become a key electoral battleground in Denmark.
Policymakers must return to the community-led ownership models that defined Denmark’s success with wind power –
@lslothuus.bsky.social @suspol.bsky.social @lsegovernment.bsky.social for
@lseeuroppblog.bsky.social
Without tackling ISDS, fossil fuel phase-out plans will keep hitting legal roadblocks.
Fixing both is essential for a just transition🌍
www.sussex.ac.uk/research/pro...
With countries like the Netherlands and Australia already taking steps, 2026 is a key moment to push ISDS off the table 👩⚖️
Climate clubs like BOGA and COFFIS - and possibly a new coalition - could reform treaties, carve out fossil fuels, or remove ISDS entirely 💪
ISDS has enabled fossil fuel firms to extract $80B+ in public funds and sue governments for rejecting new coal, oil, and gas projects🛑
Colombia’s environment minister named ISDS as “one of the greatest obstacles” to the energy transition ❌
Colombia🇨🇴 + the Netherlands🇳🇱are now moving ahead with a world-first fossil fuel phase-out conference in 2026
At #COP30, 80+ countries backed a fossil fuel phase-out roadmap but it was blocked by petrostates.
The final text didn’t even mention fossil fuels 🤔
📢 A just transition means phasing out fossil fuels and the ISDS system that protects them 📢
A new contribution from @kylat.bsky.social sets out why reform to the investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) system is essential for phase-outs.
sussex.ac.uk/research/pro...
Quick 🧵👇
What does this mean for the road ahead?
💪Pressure, policy, and new forms of cooperation.
Check out the full briefing here: sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gate...
🏛️COP30 improved parts of the climate governance scaffolding.
But it failed to deliver decisive action on fossil fuel phase-outs - the core task that will determine whether the world avoids climate chaos.
🌐 Multilateralism is shifting.
With the UNFCCC struggling on binding commitments, momentum is moving to:
🗺️The G20
🤝Plurilateral alliances (BOGA, CET-P)
🟢The newly announced 2026 Intl Conference on the Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels (🇨🇴+🇳🇱)
🏛️Climate governance is fragmenting.
Geopolitics, trade tensions & fossil fuel lobbying (1 in 25 COP30 delegates) are constraining ambition on phase-outs.
🛢️Governments are still approving new fossil fuel projects.
COP30 exposed three truths:
⚡The transition is accelerating - but uneven. Clean energy investment is soaring. Yet fossil fuels still dominate transport, heavy industry & buildings.
0⃣The 1.5°C carbon budget is nearly gone.
📈Fossil emissions rose 1.1% this year.
COP30 was billed to be the moment the world agreed a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels as part of the UN-process.
Instead: the final text avoided the topic altogether.
❌No mention of coal, oil or gas, despite 86 countries calling for a roadmap.
🌍🛢️COP30: Breaking the Deadlock - or Revealing It?
Our new SUS-POL briefing by @freddiedaley.bsky.social breaks down what COP30 really delivered for fossil fuel phase-outs.
sussex.ac.uk/webteam/gate...
Short🧵on its main arguments👇
Building clean energy is essential. But so is the deliberate, managed decline of fossil fuels.
Without both, the transition risks becoming an expansion, not a transformation.
🔗Read the full piece here: nationalinterest.org/blog/energy-...
5️⃣ A just transition depends on workers.
People in fossil fuel sectors need real, supported pathways into the low-carbon economy.
They’re the ones who will build the new system, not be left behind by it.
4️⃣ There are opportunities in managed decline.
Decommissioning creates jobs, innovation, and regional renewal.
Building this capacity alongside renewables makes economic and climate sense.
3️⃣ Breaking fossil fuel systems takes time.
These infrastructures are massive, global, and built for endless growth, not decline.
The work of dismantling them must begin now, not “later.”
2️⃣ You can’t skip the fight.
“Build now, break later” dodges the confrontation with fossil fuel incumbents.
These firms are resisting transition, protecting profits, and keeping economies hooked on coal, oil and gas.
They won’t give up power willingly - they must be pushed.
1️⃣ Renewables are adding, not replacing.
Global energy demand keeps rising. Clean energy is expanding the mix, but fossil fuel use is still increasing.
To meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, renewables must displace fossil fuels, not just add to them.
“Build now, break later” means scaling up renewables first and only later dismantling fossil fuel systems.
But delaying phase-out is a dangerous gamble - on a “later” that a warming world may not grant us.
🛢️We cannot lose sight of phasing out fossil fuels.
@freddiedaley.bsky.social and @peternewell.bsky.social have a piece in The National Interest pushing back on the “build now, break later” mantra in the energy transition.
nationalinterest.org/blog/energy-...
A 🧵 on why that approach is risky👇
A global fossil phase-out must engage with the politics of energy transitions, not just the economics.
Only then can fairness and the 1.5°C goal go hand in hand. 🤝
Check out the full paper here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
And the blog here: www.sussex.ac.uk/research/pro...
The authors call for a reframing of the right to development as a right to sustainable development, anchored in justice, equity, and democratic control over resources. ⚖️