Should have been doing this since the oil embargos in the 70s.
GSI’s researchers used modelling to predict the impact of different kinds of government interventions – taxation, subsidies and regulatory mandates – in encouraging decarbonisation in energy generation, heating, and light and heavy road transport.
The study found taxation – hitherto the most commonly used policy – to be the weakest intervention, while regulatory mandates had the biggest impact, quickly leading adoption of clean technologies to levels that triggered positive tipping points in related industries.
Four such mandates were assessed and are recommended by the report, including: phasing out coal power by 2035 for developed countries and by 2045 for developing countries; requiring a rising proportion of heating appliance sales to be heat pumps from 2025, reaching 100% by 2035; requiring a rising proportion of car sales to be zero-emission vehicles, reaching 100% by 2035; and requiring a rising proportion of truck sales to be zero-emission vehicles, reaching 100% by 2040.