Sebastian Carney, from the University of Manchester, has found that policy makers are markedly underestimating the changes needed to mitigate CO2 emission required to prevent dangerous climate change because they work in 'silos'. Lack of communication between government departments, NGOs and other authorities results in significant differences over who is responsible for what.
To address this challenge he uses specially developed software called 'GRIP' (Greenhouse Gas Regional Inventory Project) which blends in real time, different quantities and types of energy consumed with area-specific data to illustrate the effects of different policy scenarios on CO2 emissions.
He has used the GRIP software to work with authorities in England, Scotland and California to target emissions reductions. Scenario sessions bring together politicians, council officers, policy makers and NGOs to explore the changes they believe are possible for their areas. He is now leading a new Europe-wide project, in collaboration with METREX, the Network of European Regions. EUCO2 will use GRIP to devise low carbon urban strategies for cities in Spain, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Netherlands, France, Slovakia, Italy, Portugal and the UK.
Visit www.grip.org.uk and www.euCO2.org for more details.
Download Sebastian Carney's presentation at the seminar Delivering the Welsh Research Agenda which happened on 24 February 2010 in Cardiff.
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