Fig 1.
A stylized depiction of GHG emissions trending toward net zero, showing a) absolute emissions levels (“GHG Emissions”), b) rate of change (“Speed”), and c) change in the rate of change (“Acceleration”).
There are three phases: acceleration, a constant change (only a single point in 2050 in this example), and deceleration. These historical data are from the UNEP Emissions Gap Report [15], while future pathways is a logistic function designed to reach net zero GHG emissions around 2080.
Table 1.
Acceleration-related terms in policy documents.
Fig 2.
Illustration of varying strength of correlation between the intentions of policymakers and the policy outputs, outcomes, and impacts.