SEI Initiative on Carbon Lock-In

Perspective / For Ecopetrol, the Colombian national oil and gas company, diversification is one strategy to navigate the “clean energy” transition – but not the main one.

Feature / Learn more about SEI's efforts and research regarding the social acceptance of wind energy projects in La Guajira, Colombia.

Media coverage / A new SEI study shows while fossil fuels are increasingly mentioned climate plans, those who will continue to extract far outnumber those who will wind it down.

Media coverage / Russia's invasion of Ukraine plunged Europe into an energy crisis. But it provides a chance to spark the green economy, Jindan Gong tells Podcast and Business.

Perspective / Russia has caused an energy crisis for Europe. SEI Research Associate Jindan Gong says this opens the door to a green energy transition across the EU.

Perspective / As Indonesia promises a zero-carbon economy by 2060, SEI suggests 5 principles essential for implementation in policy for Indonesia’s just coal transition.

Perspective / To ensure a just transition, ethnic minority groups and Indigenous Peoples need to be involved in decision-making and benefit sharing.

Perspective / COP27 has been called the "Adaptation", "Implementation" and "African COP". SEI experts examine what it takes for COP27 to live up to the expectations.

Feature / How did Estonia use Covid-19 recovery packages to accelerate the clean energy transition? Insights generated from the Energy Policy Tracker.

Feature / SEI scientists Ploy Achakulwisut and Peter Erickson advise a UK agency how the fossil fuel production gap informs the potential sale of new oil and gas leases.

Other publication / In a letter submitted to the Massachusetts Attorney General, SEI Scientist Ploy Achakulwisut expresses support for Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard’s legal complaint.

Perspective / War, pandemic and the growing threat of climate change make the need to invest in energy efficiency all the more urgent. The technology already exists.

Feature / SEI researchers offer a deep dive into the concept of carbon lock-in and its effects in Latin America, where economies are entwined with fossil fuel production.

Perspective / The Paris Agreement goals are still within our grasp if policymakers decisively act now, say SEI US Scientists Peter Erickson and Ploy Achakulwisut.

Perspective / As we decarbonize our energy system, we must also address the harmful public health and environmental impacts of oil and gas extraction.

Press release / The new Energy Policy Tracker offers a near-real-time snapshot of COVID-19 recovery packages from a climate and energy perspective.

Perspective / The vulnerability of fossil fuel-producing countries in Latin America has been exacerbated by Covid-19, but countries are only investing more in fossil fuels.

Perspective / Countries need to pair their emission reduction commitments with clear and transparent plans to wind down fossil fuel production.

Feature / The 2021 Production Gap Report shows governments' fossil fuel production plans remain dangerously out of sync with the Paris Agreement’s temperature limits.

Other publication / In a letter submitted to the District Court of The Hague, SEI Senior Scientist Peter Erickson criticizes a Shell-commissioned report on oil and gas production.

Feature / Read the testimony of SEI's Peter Erickson and watch the Earth Day hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on the Environment.

Feature / A new Nature article lays out the economic, political and symbolic effects of subsidies – and why their removal is important to a low-carbon transition.

Feature / The 2020 Special Report outlines how Covid-19 recovery plans could set the stage for a managed wind-down of fossil fuels as part of “build back better” efforts.

Feature / Experts from IEA, IISD, UN and other institutions discussed Covid-19 and the next steps for energy policy at the 2020 Virtual Forum on Fossil Fuel Supply.

Feature / Government and UN officials were among those who discussed how governments are expanding, or limiting, fossil fuels amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Perspective / SEI's Georgia Piggot and Peter Erickson explain "carbon lock-in" and how countries can avoid — and undo — this addiction to fossil fuels.

Feature / SEI's Peter Erickson joined a panel of experts to discuss the importance of ensuring equity when transitioning away from fossil fuels.

Feature / The new Production Gap Report shows that the world is on track to produce 120% more fossil fuels than can be burned under 1.5°C warming.

Press release / As Congress focuses anew on climate, SEI researchers outline three principles to inform the structure of a rapid phase-out of U.S. fossil fuel production.

Journal article / This paper finds that California could reduce global emissions substantially if it joined a growing list of governments that limit oil production.

Feature

Journal article / An analysis of the concepts of Social License to Operate and Social Acceptance, from the extractive industry to its application in renewable energy.

SEI report / The authors identify enabling factors of social acceptance for wind energy projects and, more broadly, of a just energy transition in La Guajira.

SEI working paper / Researchers review the power dynamics and distributional politics that shape resistance to phasing out coal and to opportunities for change in Colombia.

Other publication / Countries will, in aggregate, produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C.

SEI report / What diversification strategies do NOGCs use to engage in an energy transition? A view of four South American companies.

SEI working paper / This working paper examines cases in Colombia and México where gas infrastructure is expanded with little market justification, risking gas lock-in.

SEI report / Five key points could assist in a just coal transition in Indonesia, affecting all stakeholders in finding sustainable solutions to a cleaner energy pathway.

Journal article / Researchers analyse IPCC Sixth Assessment Report mitigation scenarios and their implications for limiting fossil fuel production.

SEI report / Amid growing momentum to link fossil fuel production and climate goals, transparency on countries’ alignment with Paris goals is crucial to assessing progress.

SEI brief / This brief provides a snapshot of the renewables landscape for wind and solar in Colombia as of 2022.

Journal article / Trade policy can support climate policy beyond border measures by ensuring open markets for clean technologies and products.

Other publication / Researchers tracking countries' plans toward winding down fossil fuel production have updated their database with the latest entries current as of 2022.

Other publication / This report details how climate change and fossil fuel dependence affect public health, with contributions from SEI Research Fellow Ploy Achakulwisut.

Other publication / The 2021 report reveals that countries' fossil fuel production plans remain dangerously out of sync with the limits consistent with the Paris Agreement.

SEI working paper / This analysis finds that a growing number of countries are addressing fossil fuels as part of their climate mitigation activities.

SEI report / This report analyses how four cities transitioned away from carbon-intensive economies and the lessons that can be applied to future deindustrialization.

SEI brief / This brief examines the decline of the United Kingdom's steel industry. It is part of a series that aims to provide lessons for ongoing and future transitions.

SEI brief / This brief examines the closure of a major steelworks plant in Newcastle, part of a series that aims to provide lessons for ongoing and future transitions.

SEI brief / This brief examines the closure of the Kodak plant in Rochester, part of a series that aims to provide lessons for ongoing and future transitions.

SEI brief / This brief examines the downturn of gold mining in the Free State province, part of a series that aims to provide lessons for ongoing and future transitions.

SEI working paper / This paper looks at the implications for a shared effort to align global fossil fuel production with climate limits.

Other publication / This paper distils insights into how societal transitions impact people, economies and the environment, with a focus on the green economy transition.

SEI report / This policy report outlines seven principles to achieve and implement a just transition to a low-carbon economy.

Journal article / This article explores an obstacle to supply-side policy: the national government's narrative that fossil fuel extraction is necessary for development.

Other publication / The report considers the impact of COVID-19 on the gap between countries’ planned fossil fuels production and the levels needed to limit global warming.

SEI brief / How NDCs and LT-LEDS can address fossil fuel production and support a just and sustainable recovery

Journal article / This special issue brings together pioneering new work on supply side climate policy, amidst growing calls for an energy transition away from fossil fuels.

SEI report / Further investments in oil and gas infrastructure – including new oil sands projects – are increasingly risky given market trends and fundamentals

Journal article / This paper looks at where and how to equitably phase out oil, gas and coal production.

SEI working paper / This paper examines the gender- and age-related impacts of past mine closures, in order to inform current and future energy transitions.

Other publication / This report is the first assessment of the gap between Paris Agreement goals and countries’ planned production of coal, oil and gas.

Journal article / This article analyses the ways through which incumbent actors of the fossil fuel regime respond to socio-economic pressures and actively resist change.

SEI working paper / This paper assesses the existing knowledge base to better understand the economic, social and political consequences of mine closures.

SEI working paper / Nationally determined contributions could help in the wind-down of oil, gas and coal production. But countries are only making limited use of this potential.

SEI brief / Do transition policies address the needs of the most disadvantaged? This brief examines policies in the US and Thailand to highlight key equity considerations.

Journal article / This paper finds that California could reduce global emissions substantially if it joined a growing list of governments that limit oil production.

Journal article / What are the practical, political and ethical challenges in supply-side climate policy?

SEI brief / This policy brief explores what a sudden decline in coal demand could mean for Colombia, and how the country can ensure a smooth transition away from coal.

Journal article / This article outlines why it is important that Parties to the Paris Agreement explicitly address the phasing out of fossil fuel production under the UNFCCC.

SEI brief / Current and future oil sands projects may contribute to a long-term global oversupply of oil, slowing the necessary low-carbon transition outside Canada.

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SEI brief

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SEI brief