Risks of, and Responses to, the New Fossil Fuel Economy

The Stockholm Environment Institute is launching a project to analyze the 'new fossil fuel economy,' specifically focusing on how new investments in extraction and trade infrastructure create political and economic dependencies that hinder climate stabilization. The initiative aims to develop new GHG accounting frameworks from a supply perspective, assess equity considerations for supplying countries, and evaluate the social and environmental impacts of unconventional oil, gas, and coal development. Planned case studies include coal infrastructure for Asian markets in Mongolia and Mozambique, oil shale in Estonia, Jordan, Morocco, and the Western U.S., and oil sands in Venezuela's Orinoco basin.

• Supply-side investments in fossil fuel extraction, such as coal mines and oil deposits, can act as "game changers" that create economic and political constituencies that maintain high-emission pathways and make societies reliant on fossil fuels. Canada's oil sands exploitation is cited as an example that has changed its domestic politics and reduced its international climate leadership.
• Current green growth and low-emission development strategies (LEDS) in over 40 developing countries as of mid-2013 often overlook the consequences of fossil fuel production and exports, focusing instead on cleaner energy production and efficiency.
• Standard GHG emissions accounting typically attributes combustion emissions to consuming countries, which leads to a lack of attention and responsibility regarding the impacts of fossil fuel extraction and supply.
• Oil shale is identified as potentially the most emissions-intensive fossil fuel, exceeding brown coal, with total resources that may be greater than remaining conventional oil supplies.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2013). Risks of, and Responses to, the New Fossil Fuel Economy. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-FS-2013-New-fossil-fuel-economy.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Risks of, and Responses to, the New Fossil Fuel Economy. 2013. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-FS-2013-New-fossil-fuel-economy.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Risks of, and Responses to, the New Fossil Fuel Economy |date=2013 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-FS-2013-New-fossil-fuel-economy.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2013risks, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Risks of, and Responses to, the New Fossil Fuel Economy}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2013}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-FS-2013-New-fossil-fuel-economy.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }