To halt climate change, the Paris Agreement implicitly requires leaving fossil fuels (FF) underground (LFFU) and coherent financial flows. This implies stranding huge amounts of FF resources and assets (worth $16-300 trillion), affecting big investors: FF firms, shareholders (pension funds/philanthropies), debt financers (aid agencies/development banks) and governments. The CLIFF (Climate Change and Fossil Fuels) research team at University of Amsterdam aims to answer the following research questions:
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What is the role of big investors in LFFU?
What are the North-South implications of LFFU?
What measures can be taken by whom to equitably allocate and accelerate shareholder and stakeholder responsibility in energy transformation for inclusive development?
Key Messages
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Climate Threat
Climate change poses imminent and long-lasting threats to our Earth system, demanding immediate action
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Global Commitment
The Paris Agreement symbolises a united global commitment to address climate change
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Carbon Budget Depletion
Past and present emissions have substantially depleted the carbon budget for the future, requiring rapid and decisive actions on phasing out fossil fuels
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Global Fossil Fuel Dependence
The heavy dependence on the fossil fuel industry worldwide poses serious challenges to phasing out fossil fuels and achieving the Paris Agreement
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Deployment of Renewables
Future deployment of renewable energy installations must act as replacements for fossil fuel-based energy production but not additions, and in many countries the future planned renewable energy is barely enough to replace energy produced from burning coal, indicating the need for more substantial and faster deployment of renewables
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Stranded Assets
Global South will bear most of the risks of stranded assets, should they follow the business-as-usual development model
About
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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Contact
+31 20 5254366
J.Gupta@uva.nl
Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, 1018 WS Amsterdam