In the wake of the latest IPCC Synthesis Report, many may wonder where—in the face of this increasing litany of scientific warnings setting out the catastrophe the world is facing—do we find hope? The good news is we still have some slim chances, as well as multiple economically and technically feasible and effective means, to reduce GHG emissions and adapt to human-caused climate change. Yet the world needs urgent, coordinated action now of vastly different stakeholders to address both near-term challenges, and long-term risks!

Looking from a science-policy lens, IAM COMPACT envisages to be the first, truly co-creative climate-economy modelling project to underpin climate policymaking in support of the Paris Agreement principles, with authoritative scientific results and robust projections against different types of uncertainties that are inherent in climate and socioeconomic evolution, and operational capacity. In this regard, IAM COMPACT employs a diversified portfolio of 25 global and regional integrated assessment models, energy and electricity models, as well as sectoral models that altogether accurately cover all geographic scales, the multiplicity of socioeconomic dimensions and economic sectors, and all types of emissions.

The IAM COMPACT modelling suite is documented in detail in I²AM PARIS, an open-access and data exchange modelling platform, which will be the main vessel for coordinating, storing, and providing open access to the IAM COMPACT modelling activities. This means that the project will de facto promote knowledge exchange in the scientific community and enable mutual learning among heterogeneous research disciplines, the policy community, and civil society.

On February 23-24, 2023 the IAM COMPACT project held its general assembly meeting online. Chaired by EPU-NTUA, the project coordinator, the online meeting welcomed representatives from all institutions and organisations that make up the IAM COMPACT consortium, as well as the members of the project’s Scientific Advisory Board.

Over the course of two productive days, and apart from tracking progress and summarising ongoing activities across the project work packages, consortium partners had the opportunity to briefly discuss their next steps and upcoming significant milestones. The consortium also had the great opportunity to receive early feedback and useful recommendations from the Scientific Advisory Board members, who drew from their domain expertise as well as their personal experience in their previous or ongoing research projects. The meeting saw exciting debates and fruitful exchange of ideas and good practices with a focus on providing robust, model-based scientific evidence in support of climate policy, expanding model capabilities to address new policy challenges and fostering dialogue with various stakeholder groups, while maximising impact.

The next General Assembly meeting will take place in September 2023, on the completion of the first year of the project.

During the first six months of the IAM COMPACT project a number of fresh scientific outputs relevant to share with the wider IAM COMPACT community.

Four key IAM COMPACT deliverables have been delivered since the project’s onset!

• IAM COMPACT visual identity and website: The document describes the visual identity and the website of the IAM COMPACT project, which is part of Task 1.2 ‘Creating the IAM COMPACT visual identity & website’ activities. Dissemination tools, including information and communication means such as the logo, flyer, leaflet, poster, roll-up, and presentation are presented.
• Stakeholder engagement plan: The document outlines a stakeholder engagement plan that can facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration between modellers and stakeholders to achieve these aims. The key objectives of stakeholder engagement in the project are to ensure policy relevance, share knowledge and enhance trust between modellers and stakeholders, and provide direct inputs from stakeholders to make modelling socially and politically realistic.
• IAM COMPACT CDE plan: The document details the CDE plan to be employed for the entire duration of the IAM COMPACT project to ensure the efficient uptake and replication of its outcomes, and the decentralised efforts to be applied for reaching and involving all interested actors and target groups. In doing so, it provides clear guidance that considers “why”, “who”, “what”, “when”, and “how” to engage, as well as the promotional and informational materials that are fundamental for project outreach, and the measures to assess the successful implementation of the CDE activities.
• I²AM PARIS upgrade plan: I²AM PARIS is an open data exchange platform for climate and energy policy modelling, developed by the Horizon 2020 PARIS REINFORCE project. Drawing from the current capabilities of the platform, the document provides a summary of the platform improvements in the context of the IAM COMPACT project.

Check the available IAM COMPACT deliverables here.

Five IAM COMPACT scientific publications have been recently published!

• Sognnaes I. (2022). What can we learn from probabilistic feasibility assessments? Joule, vol.6 (11), p.p.2450-2453. doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2022.10.018
• Perdana S., Xexakis G., Koasidis K., Vielle M., Nikas A. Doukas H., Gambhir A., Anger-Kraavi A., May E., McWilliams B., Boitier B. (2022), Expert perceptions of game-changing innovations towards net zero. Energy Strategy Reviews, vol. 45 (January 2023), Article 101022. 10.1016/j.esr.2022.101022
• Kikstra J.S., Nicholls Z., Smith C., Lewis J., Lamboll R.D., Byers E. et al. (2022). The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report WGIII climate assessment of mitigation pathways: from emissions to global temperatures. Geoscientific Model Development, vol.15 (24), p.p. 9075–9109. 10.5194/gmd-15-9075-2022
• Gambhir A. (2023). This really does change everything: attaining 1.5C needs all available mitigation levers. Environmental Research Letters, vol.18 (2), Article 022001. 10.1088/1748-9326/acb6ab
• Karamaneas A., Koasidis K., Frilingou N., Xexakis G., Nikas A., Doukas H. (2023). A stakeholder-informed modelling study of Greece's energy transition amidst an energy crisis: the role of natural gas and climate ambition. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition, vol. 3 (August 2023), Article 100049. 10.1016/j.rset.2023.100049

The full list of IAM COMPACT scientific papers is available here.

Two IAM COMPACT (non-scientific) media articles have been published!

• Doukas H. & Oikonomou V. (2023). European industry has stood its ground but needs a new perspective. EURACTIV. https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy-environment/opinion/european-industry-has-stood-its-ground-but-needs-a-new-perspective/
• Doukas H. (2023), Why do the oil and gas industries find the SDG market attractive (in Greek). ESG+Stories. https://www.esgstories.gr/opinions/giati-i-biomihania-petrelaioy-kai-fysikoy-aerioy-theorei-elkystiki-tin-agora-esg

The full IAM COMPACT media articles are available here.

Planning to play a central role in boosting the “science-diplomacy” nexus for climate change, while raising public awareness about climate change impacts and the options available to inform and guide strategies in the light of the Paris Agreement and associated challenges, IAM COMPACT has launched a series of videos and monthly infographics speeding up the rate at which scientific knowledge and information is processed.

Currently, 21 short presentation videos for the IAM COMPACT’s wide range of integrated assessment, energy system, and sectoral models are now available on the project’s official YouTube channel. At the same time, 3 infographics spreading awareness on issues adjacent to climate change around the EU are publicly available on the IAM COMPACT’s website (link).

More to follow!

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