Abstract
The tools available to translate climate targets into abatement actions are mainly based on costs and technical feasibility. Options for greenhouse gas abatement span all sectors, all countries, and involve a huge variety of technologies. The reasons for abatement to be realized, or not, are diverse and complex. In particular, the political discussion why many affordable options do not materialize is naïve and ad hoc. Here we show the Y factor, an approach for a quick scan of abatement options against a set of prominent abatement barriers. We define 12 factors which capture a broad set of barriers related to 1) costs and financing, 2) multi-actor complexity, 3) physical interdependencies and 4) behaviour. We rank 24 abatement options using an explicit, but coarse scoring for these barriers. We show that all abatement options have implementation barriers, many of which may well drastically impact their implementation beyond what would be expected from their abatement costs. The analysis implies that the relation between abatement costs and the barriers withholding implementation is not straightforward and calls for a deliberate policy debate on prioritization and policy intervention. The Y factor structures such a policy debate.
Highlights
Clear policy targets are key to drive societal change
Focus groups with 6 senior and 3 junior climate policymakers and strategists from the Netherlands confirmed the ability of the interactive Y factor website to generate discussion on prioritiza tion of abatement options beyond abatement costs, and the ability to discuss key elements needed in the climate psolicy debate (chapter 5 of (Swart, 2019))
The Y factor is a tool for a quick scan that illustrates which barriers may deem significant for a wide range of abatement options
Summary
Clear policy targets are key to drive societal change. The global challenge to reduce greenhouse gases to the respective targets for meeting the Paris 1.5◦ goal is unprecedented. Energy and climate policies are key to bring emission reduction targets within reach. The reasons for abatement to be realized or not are diverse (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2014) and depend on complex socio-economic dynamics (Edwards, 2011). This requires complementary tools alongside MAC curves and IAMs. We propose the Y factor which shows why it may be difficult for abatement options to materialize by means of a quick scan of options against a variety of implementation barriers.
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