Sustainability Transitions Through Fossil Infrastructures Deactivation: A Systemic Approach

Background: Achieving global sustainability goals requires not only the rapid deployment of clean energy, but also the deliberate deactivation of existing fossil infrastructures. However, the phase-out of coal mines, oil wells, pipelines, and power plants remain an underexplored facet of sustainability transitions. Aim: This feature article synthesizes interdisciplinary perspectives on fossil infrastructure deactivation as a core mechanism for systemic sustainability transitions. We foreground deactivation as a contested socio-political process involving struggles among incumbent industries, allied institutions, and emergent forces of change. Methods: Drawing on political economy, political ecology, transition studies, and critical infrastructure research, we integrate literature and real-world case insights. Key themes include the structural lock-in of fossil fuel ‘networks’, the agents and their alliances that resist or drive phase-outs, the discursive battles over legitimacy and justice, and the methodological approaches needed to study and enable deliberate transitions. Results: We find that fossil fuel phase-out is rarely a natural consequence of new technology alone – it must be actively governed and fought for. Cases from Germany’s coal exit to oil bans in California, climate litigation against fossil majors, and grassroots efforts from Ecuador to the United States illustrate both the possibilities and challenges of deactivation in practice. Conclusion: Embedding fossil infrastructure deactivation at the center of sustainability transitions can illuminate pathways for action that are socially just and politically feasible. A sustainability transition requires not only adding green opportunities and alternatives but strategically retiring the entrenched systems of extraction and production of fossil fuels in ways that address power imbalances and equity concerns. This article offers a comprehensive framework for understanding and advancing fossil infrastructure deactivation as a critical lever towards a sustainable future.