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Climate change is frequently referred to as one of the defining challenges of the twenty-first century. The authors of this chapter concur. In broad terms, the climate challenge is relatively straightforward. Global average temperatures are rising as a consequence of anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. In the absence of deliberate and global action to substantially reduce and then eliminate (or even turn net negative) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, global temperature rise within this century is very likely to surpass two degrees Celsius (IPCC 2014), which is the (somewhat arbitrary) threshold set by the international community as a tolerable level. Continuation of current levels of emissions or continued growth in emissions throughout the twenty-first century could result in warming far above the two- degree threshold with very bad implications for the planet, for human societies, particularly poor people.

With the passage of CoP21, the world is leaving a relatively inactive stage and entering a second stage characterized by broad-based efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A third stage of reductions will almost certainly be required. This should chart a feasible path to a stabilized climate and put in place the necessary policy architecture for following that path, marking a global tipping point where effective climate change mitigation is no longer a goal but an accepted fact, with broad implications for behaviour and decision-making, not least a massive reduction in the resources allocated to prospecting for new fossil fuel reserves. A clear proximate operational challenge for achieving this tipping point involves effective implementation of country Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) with attendant information needs. Looking further ahead, four key research frontiers are presented, focused on achieving this tipping point and entering the third stage of emissions reductions.

The 21st Conference of the Parties (CoP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) shifted the nature of the political economy challenge associated with achieving a global emissions trajectory that is consistent with a climate. The shifts generated by CoP21 place country decision-making and country policies at centre stage. Under moderately optimistic assumptions concerning the vigour with which CoP21 objectives are pursued, nearly every country in the world will set about to design and implement the most promising and locally relevant policies for achieving their agreed contribution to global mitigation. These policies are virtually certain to vary dramatically across countries. In short, the world stands at the cusp of an unprecedented era of policy experimentation in driving a clean energy transition. This book steps into this new world of broad-scale and locally relevant policy experimentation. The chapters focus on the political economy of clean energy transition with an emphasis on specific issues encountered in both developed and developing countries. Lead authors contribute a broad diversity of experience drawn from all major regions of the world, representing a compendium of what has been learned from recent initiatives, mostly (but not exclusively) at country level, to reduce GHG emissions. As this new era of experimentation dawns, their contributions are both relevant and timely.