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Our World at Risk
Mitigation Action Plans
and Scenarios
UCT is actively involved in climate-change mitigation
research, which focuses on concrete actions aimed
at reducing or limiting damage caused by climate
change. Mitigation action plans and scenarios (MAPS)
is a collaborative research project between developing
countries like Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Peru, Argentina
and, more recently, India. Particular research streams
include poverty, economy-wide and sectoral modelling,
and possible mitigation actions in the energy, transport
and agriculture sectors. The MAPS programme is
being undertaken by the ERC and the organisation
SouthSouthNorth.
Research Projects
The collaboration aims to link climate-compatible
economies with similar economic-development and
poverty-alleviation programmes. MAPS builds on the
experience of South Africa’s long-term mitigation
scenarios, and will crucially include a participative
process with stakeholders from all sectors. In this
sense, MAPS is not simply another research study
– the information will be produced in partnership
with the best indigenous and international research.
Through strategic collaboration, MAPS offers an
opportunity to establish synergies and share lessons
with participating developing countries as well as the
broader climate-change and development community.
The ERC’s Professor Harald Winkler is one of the
directors of MAPS, with Professor Marta Torres
(Oregon State University, USA) co-ordinating research,
and MAPS includes a long list of researchers involved
in a wide range of research activities and products.
In addition to continuing engagement with in-country
researchers and facilitators in Peru, Chile, Colombia
and Brazil in 2012, a number of research papers were
completed and a knowledge platform was established.
Particular research streams include
poverty, economy-wide and sectoral
modelling, and possible mitigation
actions in the energy, transport and
agriculture sectors.
Reducing Poverty and
Emissions
This project investigates how developing countries can
reduce emissions and poverty at the same time. ERC
researchers Dr Britta Rennkamp, Anya Boyd, Holle Wlokas
and Tara Caetano and doctoral student Loveline Che are
approaching this big question in two research projects.
In the first, funded through the Climate Change Capacity
Development Network, the ERC developed a South African
Mitigation Action Impact Matrix in 2012, based on the
country’s low-carbon development goals.
The matrix helped to establish how the different
electricity-generating technology options such as wind,
solar and nuclear power impact on the country’s
development goals as stated in its recent development
and energy plans: emissions reductions, poverty and
inequality reduction, GDP growth, job creation and
increasing renewable energy in the overall energy mix.
The innovative research design combined a quantitative
modelling exercise with qualitative case studies and a
participative rating with experts. Results showed that
solar and wind energy technologies contribute better
to the development goals than nuclear technologies.
The ERC’s research on poverty and climate-change
mitigation is ongoing. In a new project funded through
the Volkswagen Foundation, the question asked is
how low-carbon development interventions such as
carbon taxes, renewable energy programmes and
green housing programmes impact on poverty and
income distribution in three developing countries:
South Africa, Mexico and Thailand.
Each of the three countries has a semi-industrialised
economy and a substantial portion of their emissions
derives from industrial processes, coal burning and
oil refining. At the same time, large parts of the
population live below the national poverty lines.
In this multi-disciplinary research project, the UCT
team collaborates with five research institutions and
structures the research in a comparative design with
Mexico and Thailand.
At the same time, large parts of the
population live below the national
poverty lines.