Search

Achieving a successful transition to a low carbon economy, in the UK and other countries, will require sufficient people with appropriate qualifications and skills to manufacture, install, and operate the low carbon technologies and approaches. The actual numbers and types of skills required are uncertain and will depend on the speed and direction of the transition pathways, but there are reasons to doubt that market mechanisms will deliver the necessary skilled workers in a timely manner. The range of market, government, and governance failures relating to the provision of low carbon skills are examined, particularly for their potential to cause a slower, costlier, and less employment-intensive transition. The potential policy responses to these failures are considered, including standardization of funding for training; formalization of transferable qualifications; legally binding targets for carbon emissions reductions and low carbon technology deployment; framework contracts and agreements between actors in key sectors; licensing and accreditation schemes for key technology sectors; government support for skills academies and training centres; support for first movers in niches; increasing mobility of workers; and providing a clear long-term cross-sectoral framework for a low carbon transition, including skills training. Policy relevance The article argues for the importance of skills issues for a successful transition to a low carbon economy. It outlines the potential causes of skills shortages, both generic and those specific to low carbon, as well as the probable impact of these types of shortages. By changing existing sectoral and occupational patterns, the transition will disrupt the existing market and government mechanisms to identify and remedy skills shortages in specific sectors. The nature and required pace of the low carbon transition also means that there are pressures that could induce greater skills shortages. These shortages, in turn, could critically delay elements of the transition and increase its cost and duration. The article outlines approaches taken to address these causes of skills shortages, drawing on examples from UK low carbon policy. The article ends with an argument that skills issues need to be more central to transitions debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the Japan-UK research project `Low-Carbon Society (LCS) Scenarios Towards 2050', an international modelling comparison was undertaken by nine national teams, with a strong developing-country focus. Core model runs were a Base case, a Carbon price case (rising to $100/tCO2 by 2050) and a Carbon-plus case to investigate an LCS scenario with a 50% reduction in global CO2 emissions by 2050. The comparison emphasis was to focus on individual model strengths (notably technological change, international emissions trading, non-price (sustainable development) mechanisms and behavioural change) rather than a common integrated assumption set. A complex picture of long-term LCS scenarios comes from the range of model types and geographical scale (global vs. national); however, common themes for policy makers do emerge. A core finding is that LCS scenarios are technologically feasible. However, preferred pathways require clear and early target setting and incprporation of emissions targets across all economic activities. This will probably entail significant socio-economic changes. To realize major LCS transitions requires sustained progress in R&D and deployment of a broad range of technologies, with carbon capture and storage (CCS) a key technology in most low-carbon portfolios. Developing countries, in particular, face an immense challenge to achieve LCS in light of their economic growth requirements. As such, international cooperation is required in iterative and flexible burden sharing under international emissions trading regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Despite a deepening understanding of systems and processes by which the innovation and diffusion of cleaner technologies occurs, relatively little attention has been given to the development of policy processes that reflect this deeper understanding. A set of guiding principles for improving sustainable innovation policy processes has been formulated and disseminated by the authors and colleagues in research drawing on theoretical and empirical analysis, including a case study of low carbon energy innovation in the UK, and interactions with policy-makers and other stakeholders through a series of workshops. This paper elaborates on two of the guiding principles: (1) stimulating the development of a sustainable innovation policy regime, bringing together innovation and environmental policy regimes; (2) applying systems thinking, engaging with the complexity and systemic interactions of innovation systems and policy-making processes, to promote a transition to sustainability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The assessment of the socio-economic and financial impacts of climate change represents a main source of uncertainty for policy makers and investors. However, traditional climate economics and financial risk models are not properly equipped to consider the characteristics of climate risks and the opportunities from climate-alignment, being constrained by equilibrium conditions and linearity of impacts, as well as by representative agents and intertemporal optimization. Given the closing window of opportunity to achieve the 2 °C target, there is an urgent need for a new wave of models able to embrace uncertainty and complexity deriving not only from climate impacts on socio-economic systems, but also from their reaction. In this regard, approaches rooted on evolutionary economics and complexity science could provide complementary insights to traditional climate economics models. This special issue contributes to fill in this knowledge gap by collecting nine papers applying evolutionary and complex systems approaches, and agent-based and network models to climate change economics, presented at the Special Session of the Research Area "Environment-Economics Interactions" of the European Association of Evolutionary Political Economy (EAEPE)'s conference 2016. By introducing conceptual and methodological innovations in climate economics and finance, the nine articles analyse the conditions for effective climate policies and financial instruments to align countries to the global climate targets, compared to the costs of inaction. This information is crucial to support decision-makers in the analysis of climate-finance policies and instruments to foster the transition to a sustainable and inclusive low-carbon economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A preface for the Volume 8 issue of the journal "Climate Policy" is presented.

This article assesses the feasibility of a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050 using a large-scale Post Keynesian simulation model of the global energy-environment-economy system. The main policy to achieve the target is a carbon price rising to $100/tCO2 by 2050, attained through auctioned CO2 permits for the energy sector, and carbon taxes for the rest of the economy. This policy induces technological change. However, this price is insufficient, and global CO2 would be only about 15% below 2000 levels by 2050. In order to achieve the target, additional policies have been modelled in a portfolio, with the auction and tax revenues partly recycled to support investment in low-GHG technologies in energy, manufacturing and transportation, and `no-regrets' options for buildings. This direct support supplements the effects of the increases in carbon prices, so that the accelerated adoption of new technologies leads to lower unit costs. In addition the $100/tCO2 price is reached earlier, by 2030, strengthening the price signal. In a low-carbon society, as modelled, GDP is slightly above the baseline as a consequence of more rapid development induced by more investment and increased technological change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a detailed review of the basis and prospects for United Kingdom (UK) proposals for the most ambitious mainstream social, economic, and environmental policy program of the 21st century: the Green New Deal (GND), providing critical reflection for its implementation at a local or regional level. Through a review of academic, policy and book publications we examine the key proposed features of a UK GND, identifying five core elements: financial reforms; green infrastructure investment; financing the GND; ownership structures; and economic, social and climate justice. We subsequently review these policy areas through the lens of multi-level governance (MLG) to understand what scales of policy action are required for these aims to be achieved. We find that, whilst core elements of a UK GND, such as reforms to the financial system, and expansionary fiscal and monetary policy require policy change at national and supra-national level, the majority of GND investments require implementation at the local level. We suggest that, in the context of contemporary UK MLG, there are challenges for fully funding and delivering a GND without a national programme, while highlighting emerging options for coordinating and implementing a GND by local government actors, in the absence of national support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The direction of UK energy policy requires a renewed impetus if the goal of climate change stabilization is to be met. Cost is not the main issue: a transformation to a low-carbon energy system may be no more expensive than meeting future energy demands with fossil fuels. Institutional barriers are preventing the large-scale adoption of the necessary technologies. New institutions to promote low-carbon technologies have not yet led to investment on the necessary scale. Further changes to the operation of the UK electricity markets to create a level playing field' for small-scale and intermittent generation are necessary. UK policy can contribute to international agreements following on from the Kyoto Accord, which also need to address the institutional barriers to energy technology development and transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]