IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report SPM.7 (a) and LR Figure 4.4 (a) (Right): Potential of mitigation options in the near-term

Overview of selected mitigation options and their estimated costs and potentials in 2030. Relative potentials and costs will vary by place, context and time and in the longer term compared to 2030. Costs are net lifetime discounted monetary costs of avoided greenhouse gas emissions calculated relative to a reference technology. The potential (horizontal axis) is the quantity of net GHG emission reduction that can be achieved by a given mitigation option relative to a specified emission baseline. Net GHG emission reductions are the sum of reduced emissions and/or enhanced sinks. The baseline used consists of current policy (around 2019) reference scenarios from the AR6 scenarios database (25/75 percentile values). The mitigation potentials are assessed independently for each option and are not necessarily additive. Health system mitigation options are included mostly in settlement and infrastructure (e.g., efficient healthcare buildings) and cannot be identified separately. Fuel switching in industry refers to switching to electricity, hydrogen, bioenergy and natural gas. The length of the solid bars represents the mitigation potential of an option. Potentials are broken down into cost categories, indicated by different colours. Only discounted lifetime monetary costs are considered. Where a gradual colour transition is shown, the breakdown of the potential into cost categories is not well known or depends heavily on factors such as geographical location, resource availability, and regional circumstances, and the colours indicate the range of estimates. The uncertainty in the total potential is typically 25–50%. When interpreting this figure, the following should be taken into account: (1) The mitigation potential is uncertain, as it will depend on the reference technology (and emissions) being displaced, the rate of new technology adoption, and several other factors; (2) Different options have different feasibilities beyond the cost aspects, which are not reflected in the figure; and (3) Costs for accommodating the integration of variable renewable energy sources in electricity systems are expected to be modest until 2030, and are not included.

Data download: IPCC AR6 SYR SPM.7 (a) and LR Figure 4.4 (a) (Right) (Excel Workbook, ~74 KB)

Data Citation:
IPCC, 2024. IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report SPM.7 (a) and LR Figure 4.4 (a) (Right): Potential of mitigation options in the near-term. Palisades, New York: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). https://doi.org/10.7927/693w-e850. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR

Citation of IPCC Report:
IPCC, 2023: Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team, H. Lee and J. Romero (eds.)]. IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 184 pp. https://doi.org/10.59327/IPCC/AR6-9789291691647.