Climate futures require politics.

Leininger, Julia; Buhaug, Halvard; Gilmore, Elisabeth; Lindberg, Staffan I; Andrijevic, Marina; Brutschin, Elina · Nat Commun · 2026

expert_opinion · Level V

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Abstract

Climate action is shaped as much by politics as by technology and economics. The Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs), central to mitigation and adaptation assessments, do not yet include a quantitative representation of political development. We outline a research agenda to systematically integrate political dimensions into climate scenario modelling.