The New South Wales Net Zero Commission has issued a call to the public for evidence to inform the development of a range of decarbonisation pathway scenarios that will demonstrate how different sectors across the state’s economy can quit fossil fuels and meet emissions targets.
The Commission, established under the same act that legally enshrined the state’s emissions reduction targets of 50 per cent by 2030 and 70 per cent by 2035, is working with the national science agency CSIRO and non-profit Climateworks Centre to develop three possible pathways t underpin future policy.
A ‘Balanced’ pathway will model a “middle-of-the-road scenario for technology uptake and behaviour change” that nevertheless represents a plausible route to net zero by 2050.
A second ‘Delayed’ pathway will explore what a net zero by 2050 transition looks like if barriers to technology uptake and behaviour change are higher and illustrate what staying on track to net zero by 2050 would require of sectors in the face of those challenges.
A third, ‘Fast-tracked’ scenario will demonstrate what the Commission describes as an “optimistic” scenario, marked by fewer barriers to technology uptake and behaviour change.
