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Plastics have become ubiquitous in modern society. It is a group of materials that is versatile and useful in many types of applications and have thus become extremely popular. Plastics are thus important for many industries and value chains as well as for everyday practices of most individuals – and should thus be also for investors and financial actors. A transition to sustainable plastics will require investments in production, management, and recycling – and investments need to transition towards sustainable practices as argued by many international organisations and governments. A transition towards a sustainable production and use of plastics must deal with several important environmental issues related to plastics: the complete dependency on fossil resources and energy for their production; low rates of recycling – also of material that is collected for recycling; unsustainable waste management which contributes to plastic pollution of terrestrial and aquatic environments. To this list could also be added health concerns related primarily to the use of different types of additives. Public pressure – currently primarily driven by the concern for marine plastics – will necessitate legislative action which will impact the sector in the next five to ten years. Plastics are thus becoming a key concern for global policy making for several different reasons. Historically the sector has not been subject to strict and specific governance, but that is likely to change as it is becoming scrutinized both in the EU and globally. Legislation is thus likely to affect the sector in many different ways, as shown in this report. Recycling is the domain where pressure is likely to develop most rapidly, both from new and stricter policy instruments and civil society. This will affect not only plastic waste management but all producers of plastic products who likely will have to ensure recyclability of their products. Biobased feedstocks for conventional plastics as well as new biobased plastics and materials are likely to grow as pressure also regarding the climate impact of the sector increases. Investments in plastics and related sectors must acknowledge the risks associated with the industry and consider how to evaluate and mitigate them. Plastics will remain important for many years to come, and investments to make the sector more sustainable are thus crucial.

The present report presents a conceptual assessment model or framework for policy relevant analysis of low carbon transitions. The aim of the study is not to present specific guidelines for how to design assessments of low carbon transitions, but rather to give food for thought on aspects that should be regarded in the design process. The exact design would then depend on the purpose of the assessment, the scope and priorities set for the assessment, and the resources (personal and financial) available for the assessments.We find that there are at least three elements of an assessment model that are important to provide policy relevant knowledge: i) monitoring, ii) policy evaluation, and iii) domain knowledge building processes, including research. Monitoring is here understood as a process that is intended to inform whether society is on track on meeting set-up political priorities. Policy evaluation concentrates on the effects of low carbon transition policies and effects of other policies. Domain knowledge building through research and other processes is important both for identifying relevant assessment criteria and designing monitoring systems, as well as for policy evaluations. A domain knowledge base can include knowledge of i) drivers and barriers for low carbon transitions, ii) the sustainability of various technologies, policies and practices, iii) previous policy experiences, and iv) contextual knowledge of the market, actors, mitigation technologies and pathways, etc. in various sectors. This information and background knowledge will help inform how policies can be redesigned for overcoming the barriers and enable change in various contexts while safeguarding that the changes are not in conflict with other key societal goals and sustainability aspects. Monitoring can cover direct outcomes such as greenhouse gas emissions or diffusion of low carbon technologies. But with a long-term transitions perspective it is also important to look into the preparedness for change with regard to existence of factors such as visions and expectations, knowledge, feasible policies and policy instruments (taking into account stringency as well as coverage and policy coherence), societal norms, innovation networks, or the readiness of key technologies.Evaluation of policies can in turn cover several aspects beyond policy relevance and effectiveness including synergies and conflicts with other objectives. It could also evaluate the consistency of targets with overarching objectives as well as specific strategies, policy instruments or policy packages. In the conceptual assessment model, policy adjustments are expected to be informed by the monitoring process regarding what is needed and by policy evaluation with regard to what works. Together these processes can inform on how both the stringency and the design of policies could be developed over time.

Plastics are efficient materials for many purposes, e.g. packaging and construction, but are also associated with significant problems. These span from littering in forests and oceans, toxicity of additives, to the fundamental dependence on fossil resource for the production of the plastic material. This report aims to give an overview of the challenges for decarbonisation of plastics, i.e. moving away from a dependency on fossil resources for the production. Firstly, it identifies different possible development pathways for the industry towards decarbonisation and the key arguments for and against these pathways – reduced use of plastics, recycled plastics, and bio-based plastics. Secondly, it presents an analysis of structural characteristics of the industry that affect the potential for low-carbon innovation. This includes identifying and understanding the potential that traditional as well as new types of agents have to affect the direction of development. The report presents decarbonisation initiatives and engagement throughout the system of plastics, i.e. not only by primary production firms but also by knowledge organisations, intermediary firms, consumer groups etc. As the development pathways are contested and challenged both on technological and other grounds, the issue of power becomes pressing. The formation and use of coalitions to support and/or counteract certain developments is important, as political regulation of this highly globalised and diffuse sector has previously been difficult. The interaction between geographical particularities and scales must be given due consideration. Finally, the aspect of materiality is a key concern for the development of a system of specific materials. This relates of course to the limits of different types of feedstocks and material properties, but also to other resources and their exploitation within a system that is deeply entrenched in a system with capital invested in technologies and facilities adapted for processing fossil resources into fuels, plastics, and other products. Despite the strong carbon lock-in that the plastics industry is in, the identified pathways show that there are possibilities for decarbonisation. New types of actors are creating pressure for the sector to move towards a future plastic sector that is both circular and independent of fossil resources.

The concept of a bioeconomy can be understood as an economy where the basic building blocks for materials, chemicals, and energy are derived from renewable biological resources. Biorefineries are considered an integral part of the development toward a future sustainable bioeconomy. The purpose of this literature review is to synthesize current knowledge about how biorefinery technologies are being developed, deployed, and diffused, and to identify actors, networks, and institutions relevant for these processes. Several key findings can be obtained from the literature. First, investing more resources in R&D will not help to enable biorefineries to cross the 'valley of death' toward greater commercial investments. Second, while the importance and need for entrepreneurship and the engagement of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is generally acknowledged, there is no agreement how to facilitate conditions for entrepreneurs and SMEs to enter the field of biorefineries. Third, visions for biorefinery technologies and products have focused very much on biofuels and bioenergy with legislation and regulation playing an instrumental role in creating a market for these products. But there is a clear need to incentivize non-energy products to encourage investments in biorefineries. Finally, policy support for biorefinery developments and products is heavily intertwined with wider discussions around legitimacy and social acceptance. The paper concludes by outlining current knowledge gaps

"Based on an interdisciplinary investigation of future visions, scenarios, and case-studies of low carbon innovation taking place across economic domains, Decarbonising Economies analyses the ways in which questions of agency, power, geography and materiality shape the conditions of possibility for a low carbon future. It explores how and why the challenge of changing our economies are variously ascribed to a lack of finance, a lack of technology, a lack of policy and a lack of public engagement, and shows how the realities constraining change are more fundamentally tied to the inertia of our existing high carbon society and limited visions for what a future low carbon world might become. Through showcasing the first seeds of innovation seeking to enable transformative change, Decarbonising Economies will also chart a course for future research and policy action towards our climate goals. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core."

The objective of this paper is to outline and discuss the key elements of an EU industrial development policy consistent with the Paris Agreement. We also assess the current EU Industrial Strategy proposal against these elements. The "well below 2 °C" target sets a clear limit for future global greenhouse gas emissions and thus strict boundaries for the development of future material demand, industrial processes and the sourcing of feedstock; industry must evolve to zero emissions or pay for expensive negative emissions elsewhere. An industrial policy for transformation to net-zero emissions must include attention to directed technological and economic structural change, the demand for emissions intensive products and services, energy and material efficiency, circular economy, electrification and other net-zero fuel switching, and carbon capture and use or storage (CCUS). It may also entail geographical relocation of key basic materials industries to regions endowed with renewable energy. In this paper we review recent trends in green industrial policy. We find that it has generally focused on promoting new green technologies (e.g., PVs, batteries, fuel cells and biorefineries) rather than on decarbonizing the emissions intensive basic materials industries, or strategies for handling the phase-out or repurposing of sunset industries (e.g., replacing fossil fuel feedstocks for chemicals). Based on knowledge about industry and potential mitigation options, and insights from economics, governance and innovation studies, we propose a framework for the purpose of developing and evaluating industrial policy for net-zero emissions. This framework recognizes the need for: directionality; innovation; creating lead markets for green materials and reshaping existing markets; building capacity for governance and change; coherence with the international climate policy regime; and finally the need for a just transition. We find the announced EU Industrial Strategy to be strong on most elements, but weak on transition governance approaches, the need for capacity building, and creating lead markets.