Augusto Heras is a PhD candidate in the Governance and Inclusive Development (GID) programme group of the AISSR, supervised by Prof. Joyeeta Gupta and Dr Crelis Rammelt. His PhD research is part of the European Research Council’s Advanced Grant to Joyeeta Gupta for the project CLIFF (Climate Change and Fossil Fuel) which has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (contract number 101020082).

CLIFF addresses the role of big investors in Leaving Fossil Fuels Underground (LFFU), the North-South implications of LFFU, and the necessary measures to be adopted to equitably allocate and accelerate the responsibilities of shareholders and stakeholders in energy transformation.
Applying a comparative and transdisciplinary case study approach, the project team combines institutional analysis with an innovative theoretical model for inclusive development.

Augusto's PhD research concerns the challenges and opportunities for a just and inclusive energy transition focusing on LFFU in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). His analysis focuses on two LDCs (Bangladesh and Mozambique) and three MICs (Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina). In this regard, he also draws on critical International Political Economy approaches, in particular Neo-Gramscian understandings of energy transitions. 

He holds a MA in International Relations and Diplomatic Affairs and a BA in Political, Social and International Sciences from the University of Bologna (Italy), with study and research experience in France (Paris 1), Spain (UCM) and Argentina (UNQ), including participation in the UN ECLAC’s Programme of Advanced Studies in Latin American Economies 2021. His previous research focused on labour income inequality in Italy (BA thesis) and the process of deindustrialization in Argentina and its impacts on inequality (MA thesis).

Expertise and research fields

• Climate change and fossil fuels
• Energy transitions
• International relations
• Inequality
• Political economy of development
• Latin America
• Global Political Economy/International Political Economy
• Gramsci

Other links

• Governance and Inclusive Development Research Group
• Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research (AISSR)

Research methods 

• Quantitative multivariate analysis
• STATA
• Interviews
• Content analysis

Current research projects 

Climate Change and Fossil Fuels (CLIFF): The project investigates the role of big investors in leaving fossil fuels underground (LFFU), the North-South implications of LFFU, and the measures to be adopted to equitably allocate and accelerate the responsibilities of shareholders and stakeholders in energy transformation for inclusive development.

Heras, A. (2021): “The EU-LAC partnership for a green recovery: challenges and opportunities to build forward better” in Opportunities for the bi-regional strategic partnership in shaping a greener recovery. II EU-LAC Essay Contest on the Bi-Regional Partnership, EU-LAC Foundation, Hamburg, November 2021