Managing a Sustainable Transition to a Low-carbon Society: The Socio-economic impacts of mitigation policies

The Managing a Sustainable Transition to a Low-carbon Society: The Socio-economic impacts of mitigation policies policy brief looks at how to identify and manage the expected and unintended socio-economic impacts of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation policies. It discusses the scope of mitigation actions which will reduce GHG emissions and their impacts, and identifies “flanking measures" to manage the undesirable socio-economic impacts of mitigation actions, including distributional impacts.

Policies that target the mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will invariably, like other policies, have unexpected, and sometimes undesirable, socio-economic impacts. Many of them are positive, known as co-benefits, and are in most cases welcome. Others can have negative socio-economic impacts.

This policy brief focuses on how to identify, measure and manage those negative impacts. The recognition of unexpected negative socioeconomic impacts is not in any way intended to discourage action and ambition. On the contrary, identifying negative impacts, and providing a plan to manage them, should reassure stakeholders, allow for higher levels of ambition and a more rapid transformation and transition.