Leaving Fossil Fuels Underground

How do different actors engage with fossil fuel phase-out? Which arguments and approaches are successful in dealing with the multiple trade-offs involved in the fossil fuel discussion, and how can these be scaled up? And, most fundamentally, how can societies move away from a global system based on fossil fuels and its deeply vested economic, financial and political interests and achieve energy transition, inclusive development and socio-environmental justice? This introductory chapter points at the academic, societal and policy importance of understanding and engaging with leaving fossil fuels underground (LFFU) initiatives. It presents the knowledge gap regarding the ways in which different actors, ranging from investors to social movements and from state to non-state actors at all levels of the geographical scale, use and develop different arguments and approaches in phasing out fossil fuels at multiple levels of governance. Finally, it explains how the other chapters in the book examine the potential of LFFU within a global framework of North–South studies, with special reference to Africa and Latin America and case studies on South Africa and Ecuador.