The world must rapidly and substantially shift away from fossil fuel reliance to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. For transition of this scale to occur, governments and people must increasingly adopt a set of moral and behavioral norms that pave the way.

In this article for Global Policy, SEI researchers highlight four key AFFNs and the potential pitfalls that might erode support for each, namely among marginalized communities whose lives and livelihoods could be disrupted by a global wind-down of fossil fuel extraction and use. They analyse:

• phasing out coal-fired power;
• phasing out oil and gas;
• ending public financing for fossil fuels; and
• reforming fossil fuel subsidies.

The authors argue that policymakers and non-governmental organizations must anticipate the equity concerns associated with each norm and account for them when framing these messages to the public and developing policy.