Putting stakeholders at the centre of climate policy assessment

Coordinated by the National Technical University of Athens in Greece, the 3-year project PARIS REINFORCE (Delivering on the Paris Agreement: A demand-driven, integrated assessment modelling approach) brings together a consortium of 13 institutions across Europe. Together they are building an open-access and transparent data exchange platform to support the design of climate policies.

In order to address the multiplicity of challenges, PARIS REINFORCE has pioneered innovative integrative processes that couple modelling tools with well-established methodological frameworks, improving the robustness of modelling outcomes against different types of uncertainties.

The resulting I2AM PARIS framework developed by the project allows for the collection and provision of detailed documentation on integrated assessment, energy system and sectoral models. It supports the design and evaluation of climate policies that are evidence-based, inclusive, realistic and sustainable, and further strengthens them with a robustness analysis toolbox and an innovative stakeholder inclusion framework.

As such, the integrated assessment modelling (IAM)-oriented assessment framework boosts the transparency and legitimacy of transition pathways, and supports the effective implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions, the preparation of future action pledges, the development of 2050 decarbonisation strategies, and the reinforcement of the UNFCCC 2023 Global Stocktake.

Notably, PARIS REINFORCE is working to involve policymakers and other stakeholder groups in all stages of the process, from the formulation of policy questions and the definition of modelling assumptions in a demand-driven approach to the design of I2AM PARIS interfaces and specifications. This work includes four stakeholder workshops, one EU national forum held in Greece, and three non-EU national workshops in India, Japan and Kenya.

The project concludes in May 2023.