Mitigation potential
Climate Change 2021 – The Physical Science Basis, Annex VII: Glossary, written by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and published by Cambridge University Press in 2023, defines mitigation potential as:
The quantity of net greenhouse gas emission reductions that can be achieved by a given mitigation option relative to specified emission baselines. [Note: Net greenhouse gas emission reductions is the sum of reduced emissions and/or enhanced sinks.] See also Sequestration potential.
- Biogeophysical potential: The mitigation potential constrained by biological, geophysical and geochemical limits and thermodynamics, without taking into account technical, social, economic and/or environmental considerations.
- Economic potential: The portion of the technical potential for which the social benefits exceed the social costs, taking into account a social discount rate and the value of externalities.
- Technical potential: The mitigation potential constrained by biogeophysical limits as well as availability of technologies and practices. Quantification of technical potentials takes into account primarily technical considerations, but social, economic and/or environmental considerations are occasionally also included, if these represent strong barriers for the deployment of an option.
See also: Technical mitigation potential.
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