To mark Earth Day 2019, Mott MacDonald is leading a consortium appointed by the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to deliver the International 2050 Calculator programme. The consultancy is supported on the programme by key consortium partners Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, Ricardo Energy & Environment and Climact.
As millions make pledges this Earth Day to help our planet, the programme will support developing country governments to move to more sustainable pathways and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions at a faster rate by building their own version of the UK’s 2050 Calculator energy and emissions model. This new programme will upgrade current calculators and extend it to more countries, showing UK’s global leadership in tackling climate change. The aim is to move more people out of poverty while aligning national emission pathways with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
The 2050 Calculator is a revolutionarily open, transparent and interactive energy model, which was originally developed in 2010 to help the UK Government plan the country’s low-carbon transition in an evidence-based way. The model allows users to trial different options for reducing emissions and to build a pathway that meets long-term emission targets to 2050.
Since 2012, an international climate finance programme has supported 10 developing countries to create calculators by providing tailored technical assistance. This new programme will fund the update of those calculators and the development of five new calculators in emerging countries where there is great potential to accelerate climate change action and develop partnerships with the UK.
Madeleine Rawlins, Mott MacDonald’s programme leader, said: “We’re delighted to continue our involvement in the award-winning 2050 Calculator. The programme has a real impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions by supporting governments to assess technology and development pathways in some of the largest emitting economies in the developing world. We are also excited to work with the calculator community globally to shape the next stage of this innovative programme.”
Minister for Energy and Clean Growth Claire Perry said: “Data which would have taken technical experts months to work through, can be crunched in seconds by the calculator to help countries map a route to cleaner future. So far, we’ve helped India, Vietnam and Colombia plan and accelerate their efforts to tackle climate change using the latest science, driving sustainable and clean economic growth.”
Dr. Adina Popa, Mott MacDonald’s programme director, said: “The programme award builds on our existing work with BEIS on other energy projects such as the recently launched Energy Innovation Support Programme.”
The International 2050 Calculator programme will be complete by September 2021.