Completed

February 2011– February 2014

Assessment of mitigation pathways and cost estimates

Partners

Potsdam-Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Utrecht University (UU), Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM), Institute of Communication and Computer System (ICCS), Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Centre International de Recherche sur l’Environnement et le Développement (CIRED), Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Economie du développement durable et de l’énergie (EDDEN), Enerdata, EU Joint Research Centre – Institute for Prospective Technology Studies (IPTS), EU Joint Research Centre – Institute for Prospective Technology Studies (IPTS), University of Stuttgart, Institute for Energy Economics and the Rational Use of Energy (IER), Vienna Technical University, Energy Economics Group (EEG), CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB), Université Paris I Pantheon-Sorbonne (ERASME), MetOffice Hadley Centre, Climate Analytics, National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Research Institute of Innovative Technology of the Earth (RITE), National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Energy Research Institute (ERI), Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Joint Global Change Research Institute (JGCRI)

The Assessment of climate change Mitigation Pathways and Evaluation of the Robustness of mitigation cost Estimates (AMPERE) project studies climate change mitigation pathways and associated mitigation costs under various real world limitations, taking into account uncertainties in the response of the carbon cycle and climate system to different levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

AMPERE addresses these issues and uncertainties by analysing mitigation pathways and the associated mitigation costs in a series of multi-model comparisons, bringing together 21 partners from Europe and Asia.

It focuses on four central areas:

(i) The role of uncertainty about the climate response to anthropogenic forcing on the remaining carbon budget for supplying societies around the globe with energy,

(ii) the role of technology availability, innovation and myopia in the energy sector,

(iii) the role of policy imperfections like limited regional or sectoral participation in climate policy regimes, and

(iv) the implications for decarbonisation scenarios and policies for Europe.

Climate Analytics contributes to area (i) by exploring carbon budgets and emission levels consistent with long-term goals (to limit global mean greenhouse gas concentrations and temperature increases) and looking into the potential role of climate system feedbacks in shaping optimal emission reduction pathways and strategies. The closest collaboration occurs with Universiteit Utrecht (The Netherlands) and the Hadley Centre (UK).

AMPERE is coordinated by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (Project chair: Ottmar Edenhofer; Project Director: Elmar Kriegler). The steering committee of the project includes Detlef van Vuuren (Universiteit Utrecht), Keywan Riahi (IIASA), Pantelis Capros (ICCS) and Valentina Bosetti (FEEM).

For more information about the project please visit the AMPERE project website.