However, strategies to address global environmental challenges are not of a central priority and are thus less successful compared to local and regional environmental response strategies. The governments have difficulty designing and implementing agreements that combine global environmental protection, even when this could be associated with mutual economic benefits. The B2 storyline presents a particularly favorable climate for community initiative and social innovation, especially in view of the high educational levels. Technological frontiers are pushed less than they are in A1 and B1, and innovations are also regionally more heterogeneous. Some regions with rapid economic development and limited natural resources place particular emphasis on technology development and bilateral cooperation.
Technical change is therefore uneven.
Land-use management becomes better integrated at the local level in the B2 world. Urban and transport infrastructure is a particular focus of community innovation, and contributes to a low level of car dependence and less urban sprawl. An emphasis on food self-reliance contributes to a shift in dietary patterns toward local products, with relatively low meat consumption in countries with high population densities. Energy systems differ from region to region, depending on the availability of natural resources. The need to use energy and other resources more efficiently spurs the development of less carbon-intensive technology in some regions.