TRANSrisk hosted its Policy Lunch “Paris in Practice: Understanding the Risks and Uncertainties” on November 6th 2018 in Brussels, Belgium.

The event summarised the work carried out in the 3 years of TRANSrisk’s implementation and presented its major outcomes. More particularly, the event explored how the countries of the European Union can make the transition towards zero or even negative emissions, as envisaged by 2015’s Paris Agreement, with help of a better understanding of the risks and uncertainties this transition entails. New tools and techniques that can help develop robust, effective climate policy were presented.

While risks and uncertainties affect all areas of policymaking, the sheer scale of the transition needed to hit 2050 climate targets means that even unlikely risks and small uncertainties can have an enormous impact on the success of a low carbon transition for islands.

TRANSrisk’s work has spanned the globe, with 14 country case studies focusing on relevant technologies in the context of each country’s national policy goals.

SOCLIMPACT was invited to participate in the event, but at the very last moment, logistical problems impeded it to be present through the principal investigators who had closely followed this activity (WP7). General topics included:

  • Developing techniques to identify (and mitigate) risks, uncertainties and opportunities when scaling up climate solutions in low carbon transition pathways.
  • Creating easy to use desktop modelling tools for exploring ‘what if’ scenarios.
  • Understanding the potential for a range of low carbon technologies: from photovoltaics to geothermal energy.
  • Exploring the potential of energy efficiency and behaviour change measures.
  • Developing novel research techniques that co-ordinate the use of stakeholder input with computer models of economies, allowing more robust modelling of climate policy scenarios and socially acceptable climate solutions.