Policy considerations for using cumulative carbon emissions as a guide

Abstract:

The transient climate response to cumulative carbon emissions (TCRE) relates peak global-mean temperature increase to the total amount of carbon emissions emitted to the atmosphere. The simplicity of this concept invites to use it for climate policy guidance. However, besides a policy’s effectiveness to limit long-term anthropogenic climate change, a multitude of other aspects play a role for policymakers. In this session I will summarize my work on costs of limiting cumulative carbon emissions to a particular emission budget over a certain time frame and technology dependencies of these costs. Furthermore, I will look at possible co-benefits of limiting cumulative carbon emissions and discuss how mitigation of short-lived climate forcers can influence emission budgets of carbon dioxide consistent with a particular temperature limit.