3 How can we reduce CO₂ emissions?

Together, economic growth and how much we emit per unit of production determine the development of total CO₂ emissions. From a purely logical point of view, the relationship between CO₂ emissions and GDP can therefore be represented as follows:

Total CO₂ emissions are determined by the emission intensity of production and total production (GDP).

Emissions (CO₂)
=
Emission intensity per unit of production (CO₂/GDP)
x
Total production (GDP)

Or, stated more formally:

\[\text{CO}_\text{2} = \frac{\text{CO}_\text{2}}{\text{GDP}} \text{GDP}\]

Based on the above decomposition, we have only the following options for reducing CO₂ emissions:

• produce in a cleaner way (faster reduction of CO₂ intensity) or
• produce less (lower or negative economic growth) or
• a combination of both.

In the next steps, you will be able use the above decomposition of CO₂ emissions to create illustrative scenarios for the world as a whole and for individual countries.

But before we start creating illustrative scenarios, we need to know how much more CO₂ we are allowed to emit if we want to achieve our climate goals.