The landmark 2015 Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) commits all countries to keep global mean temperature increase well below 2 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels by the end of the century and to make efforts to limit the temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees Celsius. For the first time in history, all countries recognize the need to peak global greenhouse gas emissions “as soon as possible” and to fully decarbonize their economies during this century to achieve net-zero global greenhouse gas emissions. In Paris, nation states made great strides setting up the framework within which countries can work together toward this global agenda. Now scientists, engineers, businessmen, policymakers, politicians, and civil society must make the transformation to low-emission societies a reality and turn national commitments into true transformational change.
The successful implementation of the Paris Agreement will depend on the deployment of Low Emission Development Strategies (LEDSs) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Technological developments and innovative practices will be key in this process.
We have the tools to safeguard our planet.
The SDSN Climate & Energy Program is designed to support a collaborative brainstorming and solutions-oriented mode to the Paris Agreement, with the following objectives:
Our program carries out an array of ongoing initiatives that were created through SDSN's global networks to support the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Our work provides jurisdictions with resources to support the decarbonization of their economies through various pathways projects, research collaborations, and expert convenings around the world. It is through our work described below that our program aims to share the technologies and means that governments, businesses, and academia can use to set a course today for a carbon neutral tomorrow.
Under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary-General, the Council of Engineers for the Energy Transition (CEET) is a global, high-level body of engineers and energy systems experts to contribute to the UN Secretary-General’s goal to build a coalition to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, and to the UN generally on engineering pathways to achieve comprehensive decarbonization by mid-century. The work of the CEET is undertaken by an independent and impartial council of recognized global experts, serving in their personal capacity and responding to requests for information by the UN System.
Recognizing the global sustainability challenges we face, European Union leaders adopted the European Green Deal with wide-ranging goals for a climate-neutral, resource-efficient, technologically advanced, and socially equitable continent. SDSN Europe has gathered a Senior Working Group, consisting of top-level academics and stakeholders, to mobilize expertise for the successful implementation of this transformative framework. The Working Group, led by Prof. Jeffrey Sachs and Prof. Phoebe Koundouri, brings together experts and leaders in sustainable development, and publishes annual flagship reports.
The Zero Emissions Solutions Conference (ZESC) (formally the Low-Emissions Solutions Conference) is held annually alongside the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COPs). The event is aimed at problem solving, brainstorming, and global co-creation to inform nations about the latest technology and policy developments. It brings together technical experts and world-leading scientists, engineers and innovators from business, academia, and cities, to share knowledge, exchange information, identify bottlenecks, discuss best practices, and prioritize future research in order to set common technological trajectories for a decarbonized economy, as well as the transformations necessary in each sector.
Launched in 2022, The SDSN Global Climate Hub (GCH) has made it its mission to provide science-based recommendations for combating the climate crisis and preventing further deterioration. It will use extensive data, knowledge, and technologies provided by experts in various fields to implement country-specific action plans to be adopted and reinforced by society. The 9 Units of the SDSN GCH represent the stages that a country should go though in order to achieve the design and implementation of detailed climate neutrality and climate resilience pathways.
Building on the Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project (see section below), SDSN USA researchers have developed long-term decarbonization pathways studies at various scales in the U.S. In 2020, SDSN contributed to the national US Zero Carbon Action Plan (ZCAP) and two regional studies in the U.S. Southeast and Midwest. In 2022, SDSN contributed to the San Diego Regional Decarbonization Framework (RDF) Initiative, which downscaled national modeling results to the subnational regional jurisdiction of San Diego, California.
To learn more about deep decarbonization pathways research, see our Frequently Asked Questions. For additional decarbonization pathways studies, see our Resources Section below.
For over ten years, SDSN researchers have developed novel research to provide jurisdictions with the pathways and tools they need to decarbonize their economies. These long-term decarbonization pathways are created at various scales across the world and the U.S. This includes globally through the Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project (DDPP), in which research teams from 16 countries came together to produce feasibility studies illustrating the technical capacity to significantly decarbonize their economies. This work ultimately changed the discourse around decarbonization and its use in the development of the Paris Agreement. The DDPP has been followed by other renowned studies, including our U.S. and ASEAN decarbonization pathways work (see sections above and below).
To learn more about deep decarbonization pathways research, see our Frequently Asked Questions. For additional decarbonization pathways studies, see our Resources Section below.
The ASEAN Green Future project released a series of reports from local country teams to understand the policies and opportunities to reduce emissions and go further, faster, together.
The ASEAN Green Future project is a collaboration between SDSN, ClimateWorks Australia, the Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development at Sunway University, and five national research groups from across Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, and Thailand). Phase 1 was generously supported by Harold Mitchell AC. The project aims to demonstrate how sustainable, decarbonized economies offer enhanced economic development and more resilient futures for the region. It also acknowledges actions already underway and the need for financing and support.
In 2019, SDSN and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM) published the Roadmap to 2050: A Manual for Nations to Decarbonize by Mid-Century, a report prepared for COP25 aimed to support governments and decision makers in the adoption of medium-long-term strategies and plans for energy transition. The document, whose first signatories were Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei and SDSN – was presented as an input paper at the Secretary General's Climate Summit in New York (September 2019) and at COP25 hosted by Chile in Madrid (December 2019). The report features technology innovations for the power, industrial (cement, iron & steel, pertochemicals), transport and buildings sectors.
The 2021 report, Roadmap to 2050: The Land-Water-Energy Nexus of Biofuels, follows a workshop to convene leading experts in biofuels and land use to build collaborative understanding and consensus around the scalability of biofuels in the 2050 decarbonization landscape. Access both reports here.
The 2022 San Diego Regional Decarbonization Framework (RDF) presents a clear vision of actions and decarbonization pathways for governments, jurisdictions, and sectors across the region of San Diego, California. In addition to authoring a chapter of the RDF Technical Report itself, SDSN also developed an accompanying Guide and resource library to serve as a toolkit for other jurisdictions to follow in their own pursuit of decarbonization across the US and globally.
With university net zero commitments rising worldwide, SDSN has developed the Net Zero on Campus Initiative in collaboration with the Climateworks Centre, Monash University, Second Nature, and the EAUC. Together, they created a guide and accompanying online toolkit to help universities and colleges accelerate their climate action plans, while creating new communities of practice. The guide and toolkit focus on the decarbonization of campus operations across energy, mobility, facilities, waste and recycling, and procurement, and more.
SDSN's SDG Academy offers renowned MOOCs on sustainable development taught by a global faculty from the United Nations, World Bank, universities such as New York University, Harvard University, and the University of Oxford, and other reputable academic, government, and non-profit institutions. These include our climate action MOOCs on climate science, solutions, and negotiations, planetary boundaries, decarbonization pathways, and ecosytem-based adaptation.
Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States provides a “legal playbook” for deep decarbonization in the U.S., identifying well over 1,000 legal options for enabling the U.S. to address one of the greatest problems facing this country and the rest of humanity. It is based on the technical analysis in “Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States” by Jim Williams and the U.S. team of the Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project. Visit the project website to access hundreds of legal pathways and resources to decarbonization, including the "Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States" book, which published under the leadership of Columbia Unversity Law Professor, Michael Gerrard, and Widen University Law Professor, John C. Dernbach.
Net Zero on Campus: A Guide for Universities and Colleges to Accelerate Climate Action
This guide and accompanying online toolkit enable universities and colleges to accelerate the planning and implementation of net zero strategies, and act as living laboratories for testing solutions. These resources equip institutions with both the knowledge (via the guide) and tools (via the toolkit) they need to accelerate their climate action plans across energy, mobility, facilities, waste and recycling, procurement, and more, while creating a new global community of practice among them.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Cost-Benefit Analysis for Low Carbon Concrete and Cement Mix Designs
This study uses a cost-benefit analysis and life cycle assessments (LCA) to determine which low carbon mix designs reduce carbon footprints, are profitable to concrete batching plants, and are most advantageous to society. These ready mix, mix designs replace traditional cement with ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), fly ash, biochar, recycled concrete aggregate (RCA), portland-limestone cement, limestone calcined clay cement (LC3), and early stage carbon curing. The report is accompanied by an ArcGIS StoryMap that provides a visual snapshot of key findings.
A Guide to Regional Decarbonization
This Guide provides a step-by-step instruction manual for jurisdictions across the U.S. and globally who wish to create science-based pathways to net zero. The Guide distills the high-level process undertaken by the County of San Diego in the creation of the 2022 San Diego Regional Decarbonization Framework Technical Report, highlights the enabling factors for success, and serves as a toolkit for other communities to follow in their own pursuit of long-term decarbonization planning. The Guide aims to share the process undertaken by San Diego County to help equip researchers, scientists, and political leaders across the U.S. and beyond with the resources they need to localize and advance pathways to regional decarbonization during this decisive Decade of Action.
Lessons from COVID-19 for Climate Change
This white paper examines important global and local parallels between the COVID-19 and climate crises with regard to behavior change, misinformation, and structural inequalities. Developed in partnership with Springer Nature, the white paper also addresses how lessons from the pandemic can be translated to the climate emergency to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by using an interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral approach.
America's Zero Carbon Action Plan (ZCAP)
This plan serves as a roadmap for the U.S. based on the latest modeling, research and understanding of decarbonizing six key sectors (power, transport, industry, buildings, food and land use, and materials) supported by technical pathways to zero carbon by 2050, as well as supporting policy recommendations. The ZCAP was designed by a cohort of nearly 100 researchers and 19 Chairs who make up the Zero Carbon Consortium, who are experts in their fields of climate change policy across six key sectors: electricity (power) generation; transportation; industry; buildings; sustainable land-use; and sustainable materials management. The report is anchored in the modeling results from Evolved Energy Research (EER) and makes policy recommendations to support the transition of energy infrastructure throughout the country in line with carbon neutrality by mid-century.
Low-Carbon Transition Strategies for the Midwest United States
This report explores unique opportunities and challenges for the Midwest region in the broader context of the transformative changes to the U.S. energy system that are required to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to net-zero emissions in 2050. The scale and rate of physical changes to the U.S. energy system will be significant, and the Midwest will play a critical role in enabling a national transition. The implications of these changes to the region will be far-reaching, offering opportunities to grow new industries and jobs, as well as the chance to deploy climate mitigation and adaption policies that focus on ensuring an equitable energy transition.
Low-Carbon Transition for the Southeast United States
This report explores unique opportunities and challenges for the Southeast region (Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee) in the broader context of the transformative changes to the U.S. energy system that are required to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to net-zero emissions in 2050. There are two central questions about the Southeast region in this report: how does the physical energy infrastructure in the Southeast region need to evolve to enable a low carbon transition, and what are key decarbonization opportunities and challenges in the Southeast from a societal perspective? Answers to these questions can support regional stakeholders’ efforts to develop a shared vision of pathways to deep decarbonization, and advance discussions in states across the region.
350 PPM Pathways for the United States
This report describes the changes in the U.S. energy system required to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to a level consistent with returning atmospheric concentrations to 350 parts per million (350 ppm) in 2100, achieving net negative CO2 emissions by mid-century, and limiting end-of-century global warming to 1°C above pre-industrial levels. The main finding is that 350 ppm pathways that meet all current and forecast U.S. energy needs are technically feasible using existing technology, and that multiple alternative pathways can meet these objectives in the case of limits on some key decarbonization strategies. These pathways are economically viable, with a net increase in the cost of supplying and using energy equivalent to about 2% of GDP, up to a maximum of 3% of GDP, relative to the cost of a business-as-usual baseline.
Deep Decarbonization in the Northeast United States and Expanded Coordination with Hydro-Québec
In this white paper, SDSN and its partners show that present policies in New York State and the New England States are insufficient to achieve the region’s declared greenhouse gas emission reduction goals. The study describes a detailed road map for achieving the region’s goal of reducing these climate-altering emissions 80% or more below 1990 levels by 2050 while maintaining high standards of living and economic growth. A key objective of the study was to investigate the potential for cost savings from increased coordination between the Northeastern U.S. and Québec, including development of Québec’s hydro and/or wind resources as well as increases in transmission capacity to complement massive renewable energy buildout and battery storage in Northeastern states.
Mapping the Renewable Energy Sector to the SDGs: An Atlas
The renewable energy industry is instrumental to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aim to realize a better and more sustainable future for all. In addition to core contributions to the achievement of SDG 7, which focuses on access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all, and SDG 13, on urgent action to combat climate change, the renewable energy sector can also make critical contributions to the other 15 SDGs, including helping to alleviate poverty, fight hunger, increase access to healthcare, education, and clean water, and protect life on land and in water.
Food, Environment, Land and Development (FELD) Action Tracker
A strategic initiative under the Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU), the FELD Action Tracker focuses on the systematic cross-sectoral analysis and assessment of national, regional and global policies related to the transformation of food and land use systems. It provides and integrates practical tools for government, private actors, and other stakeholders to model and compare policy options within respective national, regional, and global contexts.
Pathfinder Initiative
Led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, this Initiative aims to provide evidence-based pathways to zero-carbon through local, regional and global actions. Its vision is to create a global community that delivers transformative solutions for a healthier, fairer and more prosperous post-carbon society.
Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land Use, and Energy (FABLE) Consortium
Achieving net-zero emissions will require the transformation of our food systems and agricultural production, as well as balancing the dynamics of the food, water, and energy nexus. FABLE comprises 20 country teams that develop data and modeling infrastructure to promote strategies towards sustainable land-use and food systems.
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