Major new study urges acceleration of decarbonisation

Published in the journal Science, the report features research from academics at the universities of Oxford, Manchester, Sussex and Aarhus. According to the authors, in order to have a reasonable chance of limiting global temperature rises to below 2 degrees Celsius, fundamental changes need to occur simultaneously across electricity, transport, heat, industrial, forestry and agricultural systems.

"Accelerating transitions is critical if we are to achieve the goals of decarbonising and saving energy faster, further, and more flexibly,” said Professor Nick Eyre from the University of Oxford, End Use Energy Demand Champion for the UK Research Councils' Energy Programme. “This international quality study shows the importance of whole systems thinking in energy demand research."

The researchers claim, however, that progress so far has been slow, with climate scientists focusing on individual parts of the puzzle. What is a needed is a 'sociotechnical' framework that explains how different drivers can interlink and mutually reinforce one another and how the pace of the low carbon transition can be accelerated.