Project

The role of research and innovation measures on mitigating climate change

The KlimaF-I project analyses the importance of research and innovation (R&I) measures for achieving climate policy goals. Both the scientific and the application-related political perspectives are taken into account. The aim of the project is to gain a profound understanding of the significance of R&I measures for the achievement of climate policy goals, regarding systemic and cross-measure effects. The focus of the project is on German climate policy, which interacts closely with European climate policy.

Start of Project: 01.08.2022 — End of Project: 31.08.2025

Industrieofen — © Kateryna Babaieva / Pexels

R&I plays a decisive role on the path to climate neutrality. The International Energy Agency (IEA) emphasises that in the short term, the application of already developed technologies is crucial for global emission reduction. In the long term, however, much of the emission reduction will be driven by technologies that are not yet ready for the market (IEA, 2020). R&I measures play a key role in accelerating the market take-off of these technologies. The German Climate Protection Programme 2030 contains a total of 24 measures in the R&I field of action, with the aim of researching and developing climate-friendly technologies and products (BMU, 2019). At the European level, the Green New Deal also emphasises the importance of R&I for the transformation to a climate-neutral continent by 2050 (European Commission 2019). A similar focus on R&I promotion can be observed in other regions of the world, such as the USA and China.

Against this background, the accompanying research planned in this project has the overarching goal of exploring the significance of R&I measures for achieving climate policy goals. Specifically, both selected fields of innovation and measures in the German Climate Protection Programme 2030 and the overall portfolio of measures are to be analysed and evaluated on the basis of a developed analytical framework. The selected fields of innovation include:

Green hydrogen
Negative emission technologies
Battery cell technology.

In addition, the analysis of the development of renewable energies in the last decades will reveal valuable experiences.

The tools for analysing the fields of innovation as well as the results of the project will contribute to both research and applied policy advice. Furthermore, the networking of different actors is a key role in the project. This includes the exchange with experts in discussions and workshops as well as an international scientific workshop in May 2022.