Action Tracker - Climate Action Tracker - Methodology for 1.5ºC compatible sectoral benchmarks

To produce power sector benchmarks, the CAT uses two different lines of evidence: downscaling the latest global pathways as assessed by the IPCC, and an in-depth literature review of the latest power sector modelling at the national level. [...] These adjustments are made to better represent the call in the Paris Agreement for developed countries to take the lead in reducing emissions, the challenges related to stranded assets in 1.5°C compatible transitions (particularly in the developing world), and the current geopolitical context in the aftermath of the fossil gas price crisis. [...] We then take the average of the two most ambitious studies which pass the filter to represent the bottom-up perspective from the literature. [...] 1.6 Comparing different perspectives The use of both national and global perspectives to produce benchmarks in the power sector is a strength, as it improves the robustness of the benchmarks produced. [...] In the case of the EU and the US, this increase in ambition is likely due to the faster gas phase-out found in the 2023 benchmarking report (although the 2020 report did not explicitly consider fossil gas benchmarks, and so this cannot be confirmed entirely).