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SSP

Shared Socioeconomic Pathways

The Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) are five reference scenarios developed for climate and sustainability research. They explore plausible futures of population, economy, land use, technology, and policy.

  • SSP1: Sustainability (Taking the Green Road)
  • SSP2: Middle of the Road
  • SSP3: Regional Rivalry (A Rocky Road)
  • SSP4: Inequality (A Road Divided)
  • SSP5: Fossil-fueled Development (Taking the Highway)

SSPs are often combined with Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) to assess climate change risks, adaptation, and mitigation strategies. They underpin much of the modelling work of the IPCC.

Type

Scenario Framework

Jurisdiction

Global

Sector Relevance

Climate modelling, environmental policy, nature and biodiversity assessments, economic forecasting

Established / Active Since

2010s (developed to support IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report and beyond)

Maintained By / Organised By

Scientific community (climate and integrated assessment modelling groups, widely adopted by IPCC and related organisations)

Official Resources

Relationship to Lemu

SSPs provide the socioeconomic “backdrop” for many global climate and biodiversity projections. In Atlas, they can serve as context for modelling scenarios and long-term stress testing, complementing nature indicators with socioeconomic trajectories.

Examples in Practice

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A national government integrates SSP-based scenarios into long-term biodiversity planning, aligning conservation priorities with projected land-use change.
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An energy company uses SSP5 combined with RCP8.5 to stress test the risks of continued fossil-fuel reliance under high-emissions futures.
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A conservation NGO leverages SSP1 pathways to argue for stronger policy alignment with sustainable and equitable development.
Updated on Aug 31, 2025