if the overall costs of mitigation during the next decades are considered the economic assessment might differ substantially immediate c reductions driven by the early deployment of re may cost more than other options today but will reduce the costs of mitigating climate change in the future the risk that some mitigation options may fall short should motivate policy makers to consider highercost options that effectively provide insurance against catastrophic climate change it shows that developing new renewable resources eg wind solar and others from a very narrow basis today allows learning that will unlock their dimatechange mitigation potential