The Decarbonization Working Group is part of the Task Force on Climate Governance. It gathers researchers from various disciplines who are interested in studying climate mitigation, the different potential pathways towards decarbonizing societies, and the drivers and barriers shaping these transitions.
The Working Group plans to grow its activities over time by organizing events at Earth System Governance (ESG) conferences and/or developing joint publications.
Activities and events
Upcoming events
The Working Group (WG) on Decarbonization will be at the Meeting Day during the 2026 Bath Conference on Earth System Governance! Please register your interest to attend here.
Through a set of participatory and creative methods, the WG will reflect on desired upcoming activities and on the lock-ins and leverages in decarbonization research. So, we invite you to save the date (11 September, 4:30-6pm BST)!
Please contact the coordinators (see below) if you have any questions or suggestions.
Past events
On 27 October 2023, the Decarbonization working group held its first meeting on Taskforce Meeting Day of the 2023 Radboud Conference on Earth System Governance. In this meeting, we introduced the working group and met all interested in its topics. We discussed planned activities and ideas for collaboration.
ESG Speaker’s Series “Disruption and Stability in the Pursuit of Decarbonization,”:
Steven Bernstein & Matthew J. Hoffmann (University of Toronto): 12 April 2023, 2-3pm CET.
Background and aim
Cutting greenhouse gas emissions to zero is necessary to limit the climate crisis. Climate science indicates that societies need to act now to reach the 1.5-degree Celsius goal from the Paris Agreement and this requires fast and significant climate mitigation action. Therefore, it is imperative to implement a deep transformation to decarbonize our societies. Despite manifold climate pledges, current climate mitigation targets are not sufficient to meet the 1.5-degree Celsius goal, nor to reach zero-emission targets. Moreover, there are a variety of state and non-state actors who are key agents in the decarbonization process and, amongst them, some face stronger hurdles, further complicating the transition to a fully decarbonized Earth system.
Against this backdrop, the working group studies the processes of societal decarbonization through the different lenses of the Earth System Governance (ESG) research framework. This includes some initial questions posed by current members of the working group and these will be extended based on feedback by new members over time.
Adaptiveness and reflexivity
– (How) are state and non-state actors reflecting upon their own direct or indirect GHG emission performance?
– (How) do state and non-state actors reshape their goals, practices and values to achieve decarbonization – both concretely and abstractly?
Anticipation and imagination
– Which decarbonization imaginaries are proposed by different state and non-state actors and constituencies?
Architecture and agency
– How do the socio-institutional agents’ part of the Earth system governance engage with the transformation towards decarbonization?
– (How) does the current Earth system governance architecture shape the decarbonization pathways taken by socio-institutional agents?
Democracy and power
– To what extent do various conceptions of democracy promote the decarbonization transition?
– Who is exercising which kinds of power to promote or hinder decarbonization?
Justice and allocation
– To what extent are climate justice concerns integrated into decarbonization pathways?
Become a member
We welcome all scholars interested in studying climate mitigation and decarbonization. If you are interested in joining the working group, please fill out this form.
Feel free to contact the coordinators:
Valeria Zambianchi, UC Louvain, Belgium, valeria.zambianchi@uclouvain.be
Ksenia Anisimova, Utrecht University, Netherlands, k.anisimova@uu.nl
Milena Niesen, Utrecht University, Netherlands, m.niesen@students.uu.nl