The Cambridge Centre for Climate Change Mitigation Research (4CMR) conducts programmes of research, education and engagement in the interdisciplinary area of coupled energy-economy-environment (E3) modelling, with an emphasis on assessing strategies of climate change mitigation. The over-arching intellectual theme is NewEDGE (New Economics of Decarbonising the Global Economy). This involves building the theoretical and empirical foundations for study of how economic, energy and environmental policies interact to drive decarbonisation of national and global economies, and reduce the risk of climate change. The research is done both in support of national and global policy assessments, and in collaboration other groups in the Tyndall Centre to create an integrated assessment model coupling climate science and E3 models.

 

4CMR is located within the Department of Land Economy of the University of Cambridge, with collaborators across the University, including the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership, Electricity Policy Research Group, Centre for Sustainable Development, Centre for Science and Policy, and Cambridge Conservation Initiative. The primary way by which we connect to the larger community of climate science and policy researchers is through the Tyndall Centre. 

 

Our activities rest on four Research Platforms, each conducting its own specialist research, but integrated within the E3 and NewEDGE activities. Current Platforms are in Economics and Econometrics; Environment and Health; Energy and Material Systems; and Decisions, Risk and Uncertainty. In addition, we have a vibrant programme of stakeholder engagement, informing public, private and third-sector organisations about the links between climate change and the inter-related issues of energy, economic and environmental policy.  

 

Our modelling evaluates short and long-term impacts of climate change policy on an array of indicators of social and environmental well-being. The key model is the Energy-Environment-Economy Model at the Global Level (E3MG). This model has evolved from research that includes contributions from Economics Nobel Prize laureates and the governor of the Bank of England, and reflects a rich heritage in research excellence. It was one of the mitigation models reviewed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in their Fourth Assessment Report (2007). The IPCC were jointly awarded (with Al Gore) the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.