A decarbonization pathway is a way for something, such as a country or

energy system An energy system is a system primarily designed to supply #Energy-services, energy-services to end user, end-users. The intent behind energy systems is to minimise energy losses to a negligible level, as well as to ensure the efficient use of ...

, to reach a

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human activities intensify the greenhouse effect. This contributes to climate change. Carbon dioxide (), from burning fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, oil, and natural gas, is the main cause of climate chan ...

target, such as

net zero Global net-zero emissions is reached when greenhouse gas emissions and removals due to human activities are in balance. It is often called simply net zero. ''Emissions'' can refer to all greenhouse gases or only carbon dioxide (). Reaching net ze ...

by 2050. Nineteen of the G20 countries have announced net-zero targets for this time frame. Decarbonization pathways aim to limit climate change, and include technology, economy and policy. Some pathways cover a particular sector: for example, the Road Transport Decarbonization Pathway (RTDP) tool, and the Deep Decarbonization Pathways initiative which is for the energy sector. Whereas others cover a country or city, such as

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. There can also be pathways for organizations, such as companies, or things such as buildings. Pathways may include behavioral change, such as sometimes riding a bicycle rather than travelling by car. Some countries plan and discuss their decarbonization pathways years in advance, for example the 2025 consultation on extending the UK Emissions Trading Scheme beyond 2030. Whereas some other countries have clear targets but the pathways for their sectors to get there is unclear, for example China targets net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2060 but as of 2024 it is unclear how their iron and steel sector will achieve that. Mitigation pathways can examine robust solutions in multiple scenarios, by using

decisionmaking under deep uncertainty Decision making under deep uncertainty (DMDU) is a decision science practice and analytical framework that evaluates potential solutions across multiple plausible future scenarios rather than attempting to predict a single future outcome. This appro ...

(DMDU) to stress test actions and identify vulnerabilities of pathways.

References

{{climate-change-stub Greenhouse gas emissions Climate change mitigation