Making a sustainable economy tangible – SERI project meetPASS
In late 2015, the international community decided in Paris to commit to curb greenhouse gas emissions and thus limit the rise of global average temperature to no more than 1.5 degrees Celcius above pre-industrial levels. Within our new project meetPASS, SERI will develop a specific path (globally and for Austria) to achieve this goal and examine how that affects the attainment of the other UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Besides the fight against climate change and other environmental goals, these Global Goals comprise a wide range of other aims such as ending poverty and hunger, improving health and education, reducing inequalities of income and wealth, promoting decent work and economic growth and naturally peace and global partnership.
By conducting an integrated model-based scenario analysis including stakeholders and experts, the economic, environmental but foremost social and equality impacts of a transition to a low-carbon-society will be analysed from a global as well as Austrian perspective.
meetPASS investigates the feasibility as well as the impacts of potential measures and policies implemented in Austria to support the global climate target set in Paris. The consortium will develop a COP21 scenario which comprises policies and measures inducing changes in behaviour and consumption that support a transition towards a low-carbon-society. The scenario will be initially quantified with the global model GINFORS by the Institute of Economic Structures Research (Gesellschaft für wirtschaftliche Strukturforschung - GWS) to ensure that the 1.5 ° C target can be achieved at the global level.
The model e3.at will then provide a detailed analysis of the impacts of the scenario on the sustainability dimensions for the Austrian society.
Project aims
- meetPASS provides a first assessment of the implications of climate policy measures on SDG indicators for Austria and thus can help policy makers to develop strategies that support the Paris goals and the SDGs at the same time.
- The project shows which opportunities exist to meaningfully link these two processes. On the national level, where implementation, monitoring and review will (mainly) take place, the modelling results of meetPASS provide evidence whether measures that support the transition to a low-carbon-society may also have positive social and equity implications and lead to economic benefits.
- Based on the modelling results, recommendations and proposals for policy measures and behavioural changes which are capable to meet Austria’s contribution to the Paris goals as well as to support the implementation of SDGs in Austria can be derived.
This project is funded by the Austrian Climate and Energy Fund as part of the „Austrian Climate Research Programme – ACRP 9th Call“. Find out more at www.klimafonds.gv.at/home-en-US
