Until recent years, this region had the lowest level of public awareness of climate changes in the world. But, at the same time, over the last two decades it dramatically reduced its greenhouse gases emissions. Since 1990, in the EBRD region (between the East Europe and the Central Asia) greenhouse gasses emissions falled by 28% and this region is the focus of ‘The Low Carbon Transition’, a special report edited by EBRD and  Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change. The special report deals with mitigation targets and policies in the region and it aims to discuss the initiatives and the actions that brought to the fall in carbon emissions. Furthermore, authors analyze what is to do in order to achive a complete transition to a low carbon economy.

Chapter 2 discusses the economic impacts of mitigation policies in the region. The material in this chapter is based on detailed modelling work made with the Witch model by Massimo Tavoni and Emanuele Massetti  from the Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change (CMCC). In particular, Chapter 2 discusses future decarbonization challenges in a region where you can find different kind of kind, as energy exporters and high carbon intensity economies.

Although mitigation may be costly particularly for the energy exporters in the region, authors asses, it is in the best interests of these countries to undertake mitigation policies, in order to adapt production and exports to the lower future global demand for fossil fuels and to maintain economic competitiveness. The sooner this occurs, the lower the costs of mitigation.

Know more

• Download the full version of the Special report “The Low Carbon Transition” (pdf)
• The Witch model website