Here is the second half of my summary of the IPCC summary (PDF):
Energy Efficiency:
It is often more cost-effective to invest in end-use energy efficiency improvement than in increasing energy supply to satisfy demand for energy services. Efficiency improvement has a positive effect on energy security, local and regional air pollution abatement, and employment.
(In buildings):
Energy efficiency options for new and existing buildings could considerably reduce CO2 emissions with net economic benefit. Many barriers exist against tapping this potential, but there are also large co-benefits (high agreement, much evidence).
By 2030, about 30 percent of the projected GHG emissions in the building sector can be avoided with net economic benefit.
Lifestyle:
Changes in lifestyle and behavior patterns can contribute to climate change mitigation across all sectors. Management practices can also have a positive role.
While studies use different methodologies, in all analyzed world regions near-term health co-benefits from reduced air pollution as a result of actions to reduce GHG emissions can be substantial and may offset a substantial fraction of mitigation costs (high agreement, much evidence).
Transportation:
Improved vehicle efficiency measures, leading to fuel savings, in many cases have net benefits (at least for light-duty vehicles), but the market potential is much lower than the economic potential due to the influence of other consumer considerations, such as performance and size. Market forces alone, including rising fuel costs, are therefore not expected to lead to significant emission reductions.
Biofuels might play an important role in addressing GHG emissions in the transport sector, depending on their production pathway.
Medium term mitigation potential for CO2 emissions from the aviation sector can come from improved fuel efficiency, which can be achieved through a variety of means, including technology, operations and air traffic management. However, such improvements are expected to only partially offset the growth of aviation emissions. Total mitigation potential in the sector would also need to account for non-CO2 climate impacts of aviation emissions.
Realizing emissions reductions in the transport sector is often a co-benefit of addressing traffic congestion, air quality and energy security.
Miscellaneous:
Renewable energy generally has a positive effect on energy security, employment and on air quality.
Agricultural practices collectively can make a significant contribution at low cost to increasing soil carbon sinks, to GHG emission reductions, and by contributing biomass feedstocks for energy use (medium agreement, medium evidence).
Forest-related mitigation activities can considerably reduce emissions from sources and increase CO2 removals by sinks at low costs, and can be designed to create synergies with adaptation and sustainable development (high agreement, much evidence).
This post was created for ClimateProgress.org, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
