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As the threat of climate change becomes increasingly acknowledged, it becomes more evident that past and current unsustainable energy consumption patterns cannot be pursued or maintained. In order to help policy makers across the globe to address this challenging goal, decomposition techniques have been applied to identify the main drivers of changes in energy consumption and CO2 emissions. This study presents a crosscountry assessment of main energy-related CO2 emission drivers for Portugal, United Kingdom, Brazil and China, resorting to an approach that differentiates the contribution of all fuel alternativesboth renewable and non-renewable, including nuclear energy. The results obtained have shown the relevance of energy intensity and affluence effects as well as RES contribution as main emission drivers which means that their relationships constitute areas that require a more immediate action by energy policy decisionmakers. In terms of policy implications, it seems clear that Brazil and Portugal need to focus on measures improving energy efficiency whereas China and UK need to prioritize issues regarding the weight of non-renewable energy sources in their energy mix. Another important implication is the need to promote synergies within the energy sector, regarding energy security, climate change and pollution mitigation goals.

This study estimated a series of indicators to assess the energy security of supply and global and local environmental impacts under different mitigation scenarios through 2050 in Brazil, designed with the integrated optimization energy system model MESSAGE‐BRAZIL. The assessment of interactions between environmental impacts and energy security dimensions was complemented through the application of life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. Overall results imply energy security establishes more synergies than trade‐offs in increasingly stringent mitigation scenarios, especially patent within the sustainability dimension, which increases energy security and provides additional benefits regarding climate change mitigation and air pollution emissions. It is still necessary to extend analysis to other energy sectors in addition to the power supply sector and to promote a better understanding of repercussions of energy scenario expansion in energy security.

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