Special report on emissions scenarios: a special report of Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) decided at its September 1996 plenary session in Mexico City to develop a new set of emissions scenarios. This Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES) describes the new scenarios and how they were developed. The SRES writing team formulated a set of emissions scenarios. These scenarios cover a wide range of the main driving forces of future emissions, from demographic to technological and economic developments. The scenarios encompass different future developments that might influence greenhouse gas (GHG) sources and sinks, such as alternative structures of energy systems and land-use changes.