INNOPATHS (Horizon 2020)

The EU has long had decarbonisation ambitions, but there remains considerable uncertainty as to precisely how these ambitions will be achieved, or what the impacts of such achievement will be on the EU economy and society more generally. INNOPATHS will resolve this uncertainty to the extent possible, will characterise and provide a quantification of the uncertainty which remains, and will describe in great detail a number of possible low-carbon pathways for the EU, together with the economic, social and environmental impacts to which they are likely to lead. Therefore INNOPATHS develops an understanding the challenges of decarbonisation and the (technological) innovation needed to address them, present a detailed assessment of low-carbon technologies, their uncertainties, future prospects and system characteristics. Finally INNOPATHS researchers propose policy and innovation system reforms that will help the EU and Member States meet their greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.

Based innovation financing literature and sector-specific modelling, the contribution of Friedemann (SFL/U.S.E.), ETH Zurich and PIK lies in the quantification of past and current investment flows to both incumbent high-carbon technologies as well as new low-carbon alternatives as well as funding sources. In addition potential finance gaps unaccounted for in existing pathways are identified by translating technology-specific investment/divestment demands into likely demands for different kind of finance. As a central piece, public-private sector risk-sharing as means to facilitate private sector finance and address demand-supply mismatches will be studied and finally instruments and conditions through which the financial sector could play an enabling role in the transition towards a low-carbon economy will be derived.

• University College London (UCL)
• Euromediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC)
• Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
• E3Modelling (E3M)
• Aalto University
• Warsaw University of Technology
• Sciences Po
• Science Policy Research (SPRU) University of Sussex (SPRU)
• European University Institute
• Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH)
• Utrecht University
• Allianz Climate Solutions
• ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability)
• Nice and Serious