Publication
In this policy paper, several case studies derived from the experiences of Brazil, China, Europe, India and the UK with low carbon transformational policies are analysed to shed light on the importance of the tools used to guide decision-making. The transition to a low-carbon economy is rapidly changing the environmental
In this policy paper, several case studies derived from the experiences of Brazil, China, Europe, India and the UK with low carbon transformational policies are analysed to shed light on the importance of the tools used to guide decision-making. The transition to a low-carbon economy is rapidly changing the environmental but also the economic landscape in which
government policy unfolds. Governments around the world must, in this context, decide how to position themselves, where to focus their policy efforts and investment in order to benefit environmentally and economically from the transition to a low-carbon economy.
This policy note narrates four cases of highly successful technology programs. Their purpose is to illustrate key differences between the guidance that could be derived from Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) approaches and other approaches, such as the Risk-Opportunity Approach (ROA) framework being developed by EEIST, which consider the economy as a complex system in constant change. We show that these successful technology decisions were made on considerations other than what the application of a CBA would have suggested. In other words, under a CBA representation, these major success stories would have appeared as not cost-effective and possibly not worthwhile, thus removing essential arguments in favour of their adoption. Yet, due to the diffusion and cost dynamics that have been empirically observed, as impacts of the policy strategy, the technologies have become cost-effective, indeed transformational.
Suitable appraisal techniques capable of representing these dynamics are therefore urgently needed to inform decision-making on how to ‘change big things quickly’.