New book on decarbonising economies

All around the world – spurred by scientific evidence, increasingly vocal public protests, and shifting economic interests – governments are declaring ambitious goals for decarbonising. A new book titled Decarbonising Economies explores the ways in which agency, power and geography shape our possibilities for a low carbon future.

Rather than being a matter of emissions reduction in the energy and transportation sectors, addressing climate change is now regarded as requiring the large-scale transition of the economy and the transformation of society. “Climate change is no longer a stand-alone issue. It is deeply embedded in the workings of our political economies and everyday lives,” underlines co-author Agni Kalfagianni, an associate professor at Utrecht University’s Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development.

Based on an interdisciplinary investigation of future visions, scenarios, and case-studies of low carbon innovation taking place across different economic domains, the new open access book published by Cambridge Elements analyses how and why the challenge of changing our economies are variously ascribed to a lack of finance, a lack of technology, a lack of policy and a lack of public engagement.

Through showcasing the first seeds of innovation seeking to enable transformative change, Decarbonising Economies charts a course for future research and policy action towards our climate goals. 

The book was a collaboration between Utrecht University, PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency and Lund University as part of REINVENT, a large EU Horizon 2020 project analysing decarbonisation across the meat/dairy, paper, plastic and steel industries.