“The scenarios in SR15 do not represent how decisions on climate change policy are actually arrived at.”
Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) are an integral part of the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C (SR15)3 and the IPCC Assessment Reports before it, providing a framework to compare different possible measures to limit the level of global warming that is currently anticipated. In this briefing note, we describe how IAMs could be more effectively applied to support the design and assessment of low-carbon emission strategies, using a transdisciplinary approach that starts from the policies and measures that stakeholders are willing, and able, to implement.