The National Determined Contributions (NDCs) provide important indications regarding the future GHG emissions and related policies, in relation to the international energy market, technological, economic, trade, and financial context. This key information on the development trajectories of major economies is essential for EU policy development, as it will determine the global context in which EU policies will evolve. Nevertheless, the NDCs adopt a medium-term horizon and do not provide all the required information to fully characterise the detailed energy system pathways that meet the Paris Agreement goals. NDCs, therefore, fall short of characterising the global trajectories at a sufficiently granular and long-term perspective for informing EU policies.
To close this knowledge gap, the COP21 RIPPLES Scenario Explorer analyses the underlying transformations required in different sectors of the economy to meet the Paris Agreement mitigation targets. It uses existing scenarios as well as a number of new national and global scenarios and transition pathways to support the assessment of major components of the global transformation. This includes physical transformations, socio-economic implications, and the required international cooperation.