Disrupting to decarbonise socio-energy systems: The ‘carbon transformation axes’ framework

The decarbonisation of socio-energy systems is a fundamental and urgent task to tackle the impending climate crisis effectively. To address this crucial challenge, the article adopts a novel normative/prescriptive, yet empirically informed, approach: the ‘carbon transformation axes’ framework. Each axis lays out a pathway to disrupt the fossil bloc and decarbonise socio-energy systems; together, the axes provide not only an analytical tool for framing these processes, but also the crucial heuristics to support transformative narratives. The carbon transformation axes framework addresses the increasing fragmentation and compartmentalisation of transition studies by adopting a systemic perspective that considers how the fossil bloc thrives and pursues its interests; central to it is the consideration of how ‘agents of transformation’ relate, interact, and apply collaborative ingenuity to disrupt all the ambits and ramifications relevant to the fossil bloc, thereby achieving the just and rapid decarbonisation of socio-energy systems in the public interest. This framework – to be used by a broad constituency of researchers and stakeholders – is empirically relevant, thanks to the combined support of observed evidence and ‘real world’ demands.