A new EU-funded project on enabling positive tipping points towards clean-energy transition in coal and carbon intensive regions
Bali, July 22nd 2020
How can a clean-energy transition unfold in the coal and carbon intensive regions (CCIRs)? This question will be answered by the TIPPING+ research project, which officially started on the 26th of June 2020. Funded by the European Commission, the eighteen TIPPING+ consortium partners will spend the next three years (2020-2023) working to:
Co-produce of knowledge concerning the driving forces and deliberate interventions (both positive and negative) leading to clean-energy transition
Enact positive tipping interventions for clean-energy transition to support climate policy
Assess and provide practical recommendations to support the most effective tipping interventions to be implemented by regional actors
National and international climate mitigation policies and strategies often do not consider the nuanced needs and real conditions as well as opportunities present at the regional level, resulting in misalignments between (inter) national climate policy goals and local priorities. The challenges are more acute in high-carbon intensive regions that are economically dependent on fossil fuels but should also meet the national and global climate change targets. Additionally, national climate policies (e.g. Nationally Determined Contributions) do not only lack the ambition needed in meeting Paris Agreement goals, but often lack credibility at the regional and local levels as the longer-term climate goals do not resonate with the immediate socio-economic needs.
To address these challenges, TIPPING+ project will explore Social-Ecological Tipping Points (SETPs) in CCIRs. “Tipping point” refers to a moment in time which triggers a cascade of changes in techno-socio-economic systems towards low-carbon development. This project will also enhance understanding in the area by providing empirical and comparative insights from at least 20 case studies including Indonesia on how positive systemic changes in socio-energy trajectories can be/have been achieved – or negative/catastrophic ones can be/have been prevented to achieve clean-energy transitions.
The research activities will deploy:
Socio-structural regional systems’ characterisation to identify social drivers and triggers that lead to deliberate positive transformations
Integration framework to understand positive tipping interventions towards clean energy transitions in a complex system like CCIRs
Actionable knowledge to support clean energy transitions so that the positive tipping interventions can be realised, and negative ones can be avoided in Europe and beyond, including Indonesia
TIPPING+ collaborations with science and society
The TIPPING+ project is actively seeking collaboration with fellow research projects operating in our study countries and regions (see map above). Collaborations can include:
Exchanging/sharing social, ecological, economic, cultural conditions to visualize clean-energy transitions
Assessing the positive and negative tipping interventions to support clean-energy transition
Assessing practical recommendations to support the most effective tipping interventions in CCIRs (policy, environmental, societal, economic)
Engaging with local and regional societal actors such as NGOs, coal industries, local and national governments (i.e. co-hosting events), research institutions and local communities
We encourage researchers to contact us to introduce themselves, their activity/project and express their area(s) of interest for possible collaboration with the TIPPING+ team.
Indonesia Case Study
Established in 2015, su-re.co is an environmental Think-Do-Be-Tank based in Bali, Indonesia. Our vision is to be a reliable giftmaker for the planet and the future. It is to create a sustainable and resilient community (be) that can transform good intentions and deep thought (think) into direct actions (do). Our mission is to make integration of sustainability which synergies research, technologies, and learning by meaningful business (i.e. promoting sustainable agricultural products and clean energy).
As part of TIPPING+ consortium, su-re.co will explore tipping points toward clean-energy transition from Indonesia perspectives as an emerging country. su-re.co will focus on the removal of coal use in electricity system in Banten and promote biogas installation at household level in Bali from the policy viewpoints. To assess scientifically the mitigation potential of biogas at local level, su-re.co also contributes to another EC project called LANDMARC. su-re.co encourages partners to collaborate in the projects, particularly to conduct annual workshops and policy engagement in order to communicate findings from TIPPING+ and LANDMARC.
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