The second part of 2014 sees two large themes emerging in the MAPS Programme. The first is the bridge between the emerging evidence base of three of the MAPS’ country projects (Chile, Colombia, and Peru) and the government processes of developing their Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). This process is also in development in South Africa, where the ERC team in MAPS is involved.

The MAPS interest in this body of work relates to the technical challenges involved. There are subtleties and challenges to take scenario-based results of a stakeholder-driven research process and utilize them in a politically determined position for the international negotiations. Robust evidence at the national level is, after all, one of the major outputs of MAPS, but a political position is not. In support of the three teams, we are convening our next “Lab” in Lima in July on this topic. More news to follow as the run up to Lima and Paris gains momentum.

The second theme is equally interesting. Studies of mitigation possibilities (in the form of scenarios) from developing countries for the periods up to 2020 and 2030 show that grouped mitigation actions for this period help to stabilize emissions.

We invite you to learn more about these activities in this newsletter.