Editorial of special issue on transdisciplinary science in energy transitions: thinking outside strictly formalized modeling boxes

Responding to the climate crisis requires transdisciplinary processes to come into play to put together a jigsaw of initiatives that altogether constitute effective policy at different geographic scales. The Paris Agreement, the Global Stocktake, the Talanoa spirit, and the urgent need for constantly increasing ambition all highlight existing and bring about new challenges to science in support of energy and climate policymaking.

From an empirical point of view, research must stand ready to answer emerging questions that stray from the traditional climate change and policy impact assessment. These include but are not limited to the quantification of Paris-compliant transitions pathway, the consideration of diverse cooperation and coordination regimes and the quantitative assessment of ancillary benefits and avoided impacts from climate action.

Focused analysis of all dimensions of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Europe’s National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) is also important, such as adequacy in respect to actual 1.5°C objectives, potential distributional impacts, contribution to equity and other sustainable development goals, and quantitative or qualitative consideration of synergies and conflicts with other policies and/or initiatives.

Given these challenges and needs, the scientific community must move outside its comfort zone and work hard on combining perspectives across various disciplines and fields, in order to effectively contribute to climate action talks and inform policymaking processes on realistic grounds and in response to actual policy needs.

This special issue is devoted to research that touches on such critical policy questions while enhancing the transparency and legitimacy of the scientific processes in support of climate policymaking, as well as introducing innovative frameworks that improve the robustness of modeling outcomes against different types of uncertainties.

The Special Issue opens with a study by Pizarro-Irizar et al. who provide a novel experiment in which quantitative tools and stakeholder engagement are combined to identify the barriers between stakeholders and scientists concerning climate change mitigation aspects.

De Oliveira-De Jesus et al. discuss an alternative mitigation scenario for Latin American that seeks the compliance of both climate objectives and future energy requirements. This new scenario is based on the widespread integration of smart grids and renewable energies.

Nikas et al. investigate how the envisaged decarbonization of the Greek energy system can be socially just and effective across multiple sustainability dimensions, by delving into the landscape that established lignite as the mainstream energy resource in Greece, as well as the factors sustaining its dominance despite niche technologies and innovations challenging the regime.

Islas-Samperio et al. analyze the possibility of substantially reducing greenhouse gases in the Mexican industrial sector by applying a low-carbon scenario, through a period of 25 years, composed of a set of mitigation options that involve the use of energy efficiency, materials recycling, cogeneration, and renewable energy.

Neofytou et al. perform a model-based multiple-criteria analysis for supporting policymakers in Greece, in designing energy efficiency policies through the selection of the most effective measures, including their macroeconomic, environmental, and social implications.

We hope that the above-mentioned articles will contribute to integrating climate-economy models with other tools, unlocking assumptions from anchored socioeconomic scenarios, assessing the true impact of uncertainties, and working together with policymakers and other stakeholder groups.

The Editors would like to express their sincere thanks and gratitude to the authors, who submitted papers to this Special Issue and, especially, the referees, who spent their valuable time on providing their detailed reviews. Without their help, it would be impossible to prepare this Special Issue in line with the high standards set from the beginning.

The Editors would also like to acknowledge the support from the European Commission, which is financing the PARIS REINFORCE project (https://paris-reinforce.eu/) under the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme grant agreement No 820846. The content of this Special Issue is the sole responsibility of its authors and editors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.