8 charts that explain the net-zero industry challenge

Jul 28, 2022

A new tracker will monitor and support the net zero aims of heavy industry. Image: REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain

Joe Myers

Writer, Forum Agenda

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World Economic Forum has released the first edition of the Net Zero Industry Tracker, in collaboration with Accenture.
A systemic and comprehensive assessment of the progress and gaps of heavy industries’ net zero journey reveals the scope of the challenge.
This infographic summarizes the extent of the gaps, highlighting the necessary actions for accelerated progress to net zero.

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Five steps to get industries on track for net zero

Industry accounts for nearly 40% of global energy consumption and more than 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions, so its decarbonization will be vital to tackling climate change.

A new initiative from the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Accenture, will help this by monitoring and supporting the progress of heavy industries towards net zero.

The framework aims to track the "net zero performance" of various industries, as well as their "net zero readiness". In addition to explaining the framework, the report looks at priorities for six industries, as well as outlining seven cross-sectoral recommendations for immediate action.

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Discover

What's the World Economic Forum doing about the transition to clean energy?

Moving to clean energy is key to combating climate change, yet in the past five years, the energy transition has stagnated.

Energy consumption and production contribute to two-thirds of global emissions, and 81% of the global energy system is still based on fossil fuels, the same percentage as 30 years ago. Plus, improvements in the energy intensity of the global economy (the amount of energy used per unit of economic activity) are slowing. In 2018 energy intensity improved by 1.2%, the slowest rate since 2010.

Effective policies, private-sector action and public-private cooperation are needed to create a more inclusive, sustainable, affordable and secure global energy system.

Benchmarking progress is essential to a successful transition. The World Economic Forum’s Energy Transition Index, which ranks 115 economies on how well they balance energy security and access with environmental sustainability and affordability, shows that the biggest challenge facing energy transition is the lack of readiness among the world’s largest emitters, including US, China, India and Russia. The 10 countries that score the highest in terms of readiness account for only 2.6% of global annual emissions.

To future-proof the global energy system, the Forum’s Centre for Energy & Materials is working on initiatives including Clean Power and Electrification, Energy and Industry Transition Intelligence, Industrial Ecosystems Transformation, and Transition Enablers to encourage and enable innovative energy investments, technologies and solutions.

Additionally, the Mission Possible Partnership (MPP) is working to assemble public and private partners to further the industry transition to set heavy industry and mobility sectors on the pathway towards net-zero emissions. MPP is an initiative created by the World Economic Forum and the Energy Transitions Commission.

Is your organisation interested in working with the World Economic Forum? Find out more here.

The net zero industry challenge

"The challenges associated with industrial decarbonization are typically more complex than those of other carbon-intensive sectors," the report's authors write.

Work is under way, they say, but "no industry is anywhere near where it needs to be by 2050 and complex challenges within and across industries remain".

Created for the launch of the report and framework, this infographic outlines these challenges:

The net zero industry challenge in eighth frame Image: WEF

The World Economic Forum's First Movers Coalition is also working to support heavy industries' efforts to reach net zero. You can read more about the coalition here or watch below to learn more about its recent expansion.

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The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.