Deep Transformation Scenarios for Informing the Climate Policy Discourse

The project "Deep Transformation Scenarios for Informing the Climate Policy Discourse" (DIPOL) aims to outline possible development paths for Europe and Germany that are consistent with limiting the rise in global average temperature to well below 2°C, as agreed in the Paris Agreement of 2015. The Agreement requires to prevent a dramatic change in the climate and to limit the global mean temperature rise to well below 2°C and further efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C. Two milestones are particularly relevant in Germany and Europe: (1) The 2030 emission reduction targets, which determine the speed of the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energies in the electricity, transport and heating sectors, and (2) the 2050 transformation targets towards a long-term emissions-neutral economy.

DIPOL brings together the scientific community with key stakeholders from policy making, business and civil society to develop a set of “pathway visions” that incorporate stakeholder perspectives and are aligned with the Paris Agreement and German and European climate targets. DIPOL will formulate concrete visions of transformation pathways, which are consistent with climate commitments and at the same time socially viable. These transformation pathways shall support decision-making processes and provide a direct contribution to various climate policy processes, including those related to the German Climate Action Plan 2050, the EU Decarbonization Pathways Initiative (EDPI) and the 2050 Pathways Platform of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as well as the Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC.

Duration: September 2018 – January 2022