Macroeconomic Implications for Decarbonization Policies and Actions: Proceedings of a Workshop (2025)
Chapter: Introduction
Introduction
Decarbonization brings both risks and opportunities to the macroeconomy. Achieving the net-zero emissions goals outlined in the Paris Agreement1 may involve sweeping changes in technologies, policies, and systems, and the ways in which these changes are implemented may have profound impacts on communities, industries, economies, and nations. How can the interplay between decarbonization strategies and the macroeconomy inform public policy? What economic barriers may impede progress, and what role can policy play in addressing those barriers? What methods are most useful for understanding the challenges and opportunities of the different available options?
To address these questions, the National Academies hosted a hybrid workshop on the Macroeconomic Implications of Decarbonization Policies and Actions on September 12-13, 2024, at the National Academy of Sciences building in Washington, D.C. The event brought together nearly 700 participants in person and online to share emerging insights on the macroeconomic and socioeconomic implications of decarbonization strategies; exchange lessons learned from engagement with communities, industries, and governments around decarbonization pathways; and discuss future research questions to help guide investments and decision making. Coming from academia, industry, non-profit organizations, and government, invited speakers and workshop participants represented a wide range of perspectives and areas of expertise including economics, climate modeling, energy systems engineering, public policy, social sciences, and more.
The workshop featured three keynote presentations, four panel discussions, a breakout session, and a poster session. Additional wrap-up sessions held at the end of each day gave participants an opportunity to reflect on the issues raised
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1 The stated overarching goal of the Paris Agreement is to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.” More information is available at https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement.
during the course of the discussions. The first two keynote presentations offered an assessment of current progress in decarbonization broadly, while the third keynote, delivered at the start of the workshop’s second day, set the stage for a deeper discussion on modeling approaches. Panel discussions on the workshop’s first day focused on economic risks and opportunities to decarbonization and on decarbonization barriers and solutions. The second day’s panel discussions examined strategies for incorporating modeling insights into policy decisions and on global interactions. In addition, a poster session was held as part of the workshop. Invited poster presenters were selected from a competitive open call for abstracts, with an emphasis on highlighting innovative and cutting-edge approaches. In the poster session, presenters from across academia and government agencies highlighted activities in practice, education, and policy in addition to sharing research insights. This poster session offered an opportunity for researchers, especially early-career researchers, to share their work on topics related to decarbonization and the macroeconomy. The workshop’s statement of task is detailed in Appendix A, the agenda can be found in Appendix B, the planning committee biographies are listed in Appendix C, and the abstracts for the poster session are provided in Appendix D.
In welcoming remarks, Sanya Carley, University of Pennsylvania and co-chair of the workshop planning committee, explained that the workshop was part of a series held under the auspices of the National Academies’ Roundtable on Macroeconomics and Climate-related Risks and Opportunities. The Roundtable and its activities, such as this workshop series, are intended to provide a neutral venue for experts from across academia, business, government, and other stakeholder groups to discuss the impacts of decarbonization and climate change, as well as their associated risks and public policy opportunities, on the global macroeconomy.
Framing the workshop’s focus as both “looking back and looking forward,” Carley summarized the event’s primary goal as elucidating multiple aspects of the ways in which decarbonization and the macroeconomy interact. Through presentations and open discussions, participants explored key scientific and economic insights and how they might be incorporated into public policies that will impact the macroeconomy along with climate change mitigation pathways, decarbonization goals, and society as a whole.
Key themes explored at the workshop include the economic barriers, risks, and opportunities stemming from decarbonization; methods to incorporate insights from energy modeling into macroeconomic policy; local and national effects of decarbonization activities on different geographic areas and underserved or vulnerable populations; and the broader implications of decarbonization including bidirectional impacts of country-specific changes and global dynamics.
