Happening in the run-up to the Conference of Parties 21 - Paris 2015, when a crucial new climate agreement is expected to be put forward, this lecture will outline the technological, economic and institutional requirements of long-term mitigation scenarios which are consistent with the goal of limiting global warming at 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level. The main findings from Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) presented in the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) will be employed to highlight the past trends in stocks and flows of greenhouse gases and the factors that drive emissions at the global, regional, and sectoral scales including economic growth, technology, or population changes, as well as to provide details on mitigation measures and policies which are used within and across different economic sectors. Particular attention will be put to low carbon energy technologies since the 2 degrees consistent mitigation goal requires a substantial and rapid scale-up of these technologies. New polices and measures based on proven approaches, which can provide the necessary incentives to achieve the full potential of climate mitigation and the associated development benefits, will also be addressed, discussing especially the required scientific response to the emerging needs. The lecture will conclude with a snapshot of the latest developments regarding Paris countries’ contributions, giving thus a hint of the answer to the “will we make it” question.

Prof. Natasha Markovska
Research Center for Energy and Sustainable Development - Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Skopje, North Macedonia

Natasa Markovska holds DSc degree from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Skopje, with thesis on solar energy technologies. At present she is a Senior Researcher at the Research Centre for Energy and Sustainable Development of MANU and Professor of the subject Energy and Climate Change at two master programs and a doctoral program of Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies, UKIM. Also, she serves as a National Focal Point of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and a Member of the International Scientific Committee of the Conferences on Sustainable Development of Energy Water and Environmental Systems (SDEWES Conferences). She has been participating in 111 international and national projects related to climate change mitigation, sustainable development, renewable energy sources and energy efficiency and energy strategic planning, for clients such as UNDP, USAID, WB, European Commission, GIZ, Macedonian and other governments. In these fields, Dr Markovska co-authored 191 published contributions (49 in high impact journals, Scopus h-index = 20). She serves as a Subject Editor – Elsevier’s Energy, (EGY), Section Chief Editor (Environment, Energy Economics, Policies) – Elsevier’s Energy Reports (EGYR) and Associate Editor – Elsevier’s Smart Energy (SEGY). She served as an editor of the Second National Communication under UNFCCC and as a guest editor of 22 special issues of international journals (incl. 11 of Energy and 8 of Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews) dedicated to SDEWES Conferences.