A BETTER LIFE WITH A HEALTHY PLANET: PATHWAYS TO NET-ZERO EMISSIONS
This report is a supplement to the Shell New Lens Scenarios (NLS) published in 2013. Scenarios offer plausible alternative stories of the long-term future. They do not describe what will happen (a forecast) or what should happen (a policy prescription), but what could happen. The NLS scenarios – Mountains and Oceans – considered alternative ways influence in society could evolve and described different routes for the future evolution of the global energy system. We continue to learn from these scenarios what is needed, practically, to have a healthy planet while at the same time responding to the natural human striving for a better quality of life.
We begin with “where we are now”, recognizing the challenges that face society. We then summarize what we mean by “a better life with a healthy planet” and how the energy system may evolve in future to deliver those objectives. The rest of the booklet offers a more detailed study of three key areas: the necessary transformations in both the consumption and production side of the energy system; economic growth pathways in developing countries; and the policies needed to support those transformations. We end with “An Accelerated Net-Zero Emissions Scenario”, the story of one possible pathway involving a patchwork of solutions that could result in a better life with a healthy planet on a timescale consistent with global aspirations.