Prof. Joyeeta Gupta Publishes Paper on Fossil Fuel Lock-Ins

  • November 6th, 2026

Joyeeta Gupta has published a new paper on the fossil fuel lock-ins in International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics (INEA).

We’re extremely excited to share that our Principal Investigator Prof. dr. Joyeeta Gupta has published her paper ‘Climate justice, fossil fuel lock-ins and opportunities’ with Springer Nature in INEA. This paper is the third article published in the Special Issue ‘Climate Change and Strategies to Leave Fossil Fuel Underground’.

Even though the UNFCCC was established over 30 years ago, the global energy system has still not been able to get off of fossil fuels; even so, around 80% of energy is still provided by these fuels. Principal Investigator Prof. Joyeeta Gupta dissects this system and argues that an interlocked system of lock-ins is preventing a structured and planned phaseout of fossil fuels. These lock-ins are manifested at different levels of governance, require a coordinated approach from scientists, policy-makers and social movements, and should be adapted to the local context. The paper lays out various strategies to unlock this fossil fuel system across all various domains it has established itself in.

Due to this persistent failure to phaseout fossil fuels, this research asked the question:

“What blocks the transition away from fossil fuel and what opportunities are there to phase out fossil fuel?”

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This research contributes to the body of literature on LFFU and climate change governance by improving our understanding of the blockades in the transition away from fossil fuel and the opportunities for a phase out. A better understanding of this interlocked system allows us to tackle each lock-in, adapting it to the local context and with the profitability lock-in as the main driver. 

Conclusions:

  1. Most actors have chosen short-term ‘win–win’ actions within the existing socio-economic system that have led to cumulative climate injustices hampering a timely phase out of fossil fuels.
  2. Ten interlinked lock-ins are the causes of an immovable fossil fuel system
  3. Policy entrepreneurs, social movements, and the judiciary need to mobilize and amplify these ideas to unravel the lock-ins
  4.  The judiciary can play an important role in unlocking the system, as, under international customary law, states are obliged to phase out fossil fuel, or at least do their ‘utmost’ and demonstrate ‘stringent due process’
"The key priority is understanding the different fossil-fuel lock-ins per country and trying to create a legitimate, just and yet rapid unlocking process. We pass 1.5ºC in 2-3 years; we are in danger of triggering tipping points that will make the climate system irreversible with huge costs to societies worldwide."
Prof. dr. Joyeeta Gupta
Professor

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The CLIFF project was financed by the European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

 

Grant agreement: No. 101020082

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