Decarbonisation in Key Industrial Sectors Must Pick Up Pace: WEF

The World Economic Forum (WEF) on Thursday highlighted the need to fully understand the scope and scale of the challenge for the key industrial sectors.

The forum noted that decarbonisation must pick up pace in order to achieve net-zero goals to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050.

In the first edition of a report on the state of the net-zero transition in key industrial sectors, the Net-Zero Industry Tracker 2022, the WEF called for the urgency for industrial decarbonization that is reinforced by high energy prices and energy supply chain disruptions.

This initiative, launched by the WEF in collaboration with Accenture, establishes a common, fact-based understanding of the industrial sector’s net-zero transformation enabling cross-industry and multistakeholder collaboration.

The report points out that over $2 trillion will be required to make low-emission industries a reality and that the first full-scale commercial projects still hold significant risks for companies to invest in.

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The report introduces a holistic framework for a 360-degree perspective and standard metrics needed to measure progress, as well as key recommendations for industrial firms, policymakers, consumers and other stakeholders.

Progress-tracking and transparency are essential to help industries determine the trajectory of their decarbonization, maintain steady progress, and inform necessary course corrections along the way.

“We currently lack a robust and comprehensive mechanism to understand the pace and direction of the progress of transformation of heavy industries, which account for 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions,” said Roberto Bocca, head of Energy, Materials and Infrastructure, WEF.

Espen Mehlum, head of Energy, Materials and Infrastructure Programs for Benchmarking, WEF, said: “Investments in low-emission assets are riskier for companies due to their dependencies on new technologies and infrastructure.

“Collaboration will be at the heart of making the enablers of policy, fuel demand, technology, capital and infrastructure all pull in the same direction to accelerate progress towards climate goals.”

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