Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time. We face significant and irreversible human-made changes to the climate and action is urgently needed to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°c above pre-industrial levels, in line with the Paris Agreement.

EY will significantly reduce absolute carbon emissions by 40% in 2025. This objective is aligned with a 1.5°c science-based target approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), enabling EY to reach net zero in 2025.

EY is working with the World Economic Forum, S30, OP26, the UN Global Compact, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the Race to Zero campaign and many more, to develop low-carbon business and sustainability models.

Read more about EY's sustainability initiative here.

Yara is working to improve the sustainability of food production. Actions range from increasing carbon stored in soils to decarbonizing fertilizer and food chain integration. Here are three of the initiatives.

Carbon marketplace

Targeting carbon- and sustainability-focused business lines, Yara has launched a pilot project to create a sustainability income for farmers by paying them to store carbon in their soil and avoid emissions in their fields. Through the Agoro Carbon Alliance, we will incentivize farmers to adopt carbon-smart practices. In addition to paying farmers for implementing sustainable practices and storing carbon, this credit scheme will offer companies looking to offset some of their harder-to-reduce or -avoid emissions, an avenue to reach their climate commitments while supporting farmers and sustainable food production. Although it’s early days, the potential is massive. Analyses show up to one gigatonne of CO2 storage potential and a possible USD 10 billion market potential. Starting with the US pilot, Yara is now positioning itself to take a leading role in this fast-growing market and expects to generate the first millions of carbon credits over the next 2-3 years.

Green ammonia

Hydrogen is strongly positioned as a key solution for decarbonizing the energy systems of the future. But hydrogen is challenging to store and transport. This is where ammonia comes in as the easiest way of transporting and storing hydrogen. Yara has established a new global unit – Yara Clean Ammonia – to capture growth opportunities within carbon-free food solutions, shipping fuel and other clean ammonia applications. Yara Clean Ammonia took its first major step forward by partnering with Statkraft and Aker Horizons to establish Europe’s first large-scale green ammonia project in Norway. The partners plan to electrify and decarbonize Yara’s ammonia plant in Porsgrunn. 2020 also heralded the announcement of a green ammonia pilot collaboration with Ørsted, located in Yara’s Sluiskil, Netherland site. This brings Yara’s green ammonia portfolio to three pilot projects and one full-scale project.

Food chain partnerships

Agriculture is becoming increasingly integrated into the food value chain. Input providers are joining forces, farms are growing in scale and professionalism, the food industry is moving upstream, and conscious consumers are putting pressure on the food and agriculture industry to achieve new levels of sustainability. A case in point is Yara’s pilot project in Colombia with global food company Nestlé. By collaborating from soil to supermarket, sustainability in dairy production is improved, farmer profitability increased, and consumer demands for sustainable dairy products met. After 9 months of improved crop nutrition and farm management practices, the trial farms reduced the CO2 emissions per liter milk by 21%, while milk production increased.

PepsiCo has announced a new, impact-driven Positive Agriculture ambition, anchored by a goal to spread regenerative farming practices across 7 million acres, approximately equal to its entire agricultural footprint.

The company estimates the effort will eliminate at least 3 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by the end of the decade.

Additional 2030 goals within the agenda include improving the livelihoods of more than 250,000 people in its agricultural supply chain and sustainably sourcing 100% of its key ingredients.

Commitment to tackling climate change is accelerating in all sectors of society, with net-zero pledges from companies, cities, states and regions doubling in the past year.

The Net-Zero Challenge: The Supply Chain Opportunity report published by the World Economic Forum and BCG shows how decarbonizing supply chains can provide a major opportunity for companies to put these commitments into practice.

The report analyses the top eight global supply chains that account for over 50% global greenhouse gas emissions and finds that end-to-end decarbonization of these supply chains would add as little as 1-4% to end-consumer costs in the medium term.

Read more about The Net-Zero Challenge initiative here.

Facebook says it has reached its target to power its global operations entirely on renewable energy. The company is now focusing its efforts on the broader goal of reaching net-zero emissions across its entire "value chain" by 2030, including suppliers and business activities like travel and employee commuting.

The Lenzing Group, member of the CEO Climate Leaders Group of the World Economic Forum and a signatory to the United Nations Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, recently announced that it will drastically cut its CO2 footprint by 50% by 2030 and it is targeting net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050.

The Science Based Targets initiative, one of most recognized organizations in the field of climate-relevant target setting, has scientifically validated Lenzing’s climate target.

Lenzing is the first wood-based fiber producer, which has officially set a science-based target.

Deutsche Post DHL Group has today released its accelerated roadmap to decarbonization, deciding on science-based targets for CO2 reduction that will allow the company to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, with a plan to invest €7 billion in climate-neutral logistics to 2030.

With an ambition to lead other logistics companies to be part of creating a sustainable future, Deutsche Post DHL Group will invest in alternative aviation fuels, the expansion of the zero-emission e-vehicle fleet and climate-neutral buildings. By 2030, the aim is for 80,000 e-vehicles to be deployed for last-mile deliveries, resulting in 60% electrification of their fleet.

The company hopes that by focusing even more on their ESG goals, they will lay the foundations for long-term economic success.

Nature climate solutions (NCS) work on the premise that nature is key to achieving net zero because:

The Nature and Net Zero team is conducting a public consultation to collect feedback from experts across business, government, and civil society. The purpose of this consultation is to refine, validate and adjust the recommended actions to ensure that they comprehensively and accurately frame the challenges to NCS.

The Nature and Net Zero consultation report, produced in collaboration with the Forum's Strategic Partner, McKinsey & Company, outlines the challenges, and highlights the conceptual and technical hurdles to overcome in order to unleash the potential of natural climate solutions.

CEOs of Sempra Energy and Total see new momentum to build a clean-energy economy

CEOs, Patrick Pouyanné (Total) and Jeffrey W. Martin (Sempra Energy) say the lack of access to affordable, clean and reliable energy "magnifies the human catastrophe and significantly slows global economic and environmental solutions".

They argue that to accelerate the energy transition, a coordinated strategy with public and private sectors in every country, including those without energy access, will spur critical investment that expands renewable and liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure on a global scale.

They say, "It is critical that we approach this transitional challenge with commitment, collaboration and a long-term view. Between now and 2040, areas where energy poverty is prevalent will generate nearly 90% of incremental global electricity demand. This calls for a new sustainable ecosystem that extends access to a 21st century energy system to every country."

Read the full article here.

Accenture, in collaboration with the Forum and with contributions from Schneider Electric, has produced a report exploring the transition of industrial clusters to net-zero emissions.

Almost 70% of the global economy has committed to net zero. To meet these commitments, industrial clusters will have a key role to play.

Industrial clusters are characterized as geographic areas that comprise co-located companies representing either a single or multiple industries. The presence of multiple industrial energy consumers in close proximity creates opportunities to scale up low-carbon technologies by aggregating demand and forming a captive market. With the ability to share risk and resources among multiple partners, industrial clusters also allow for the creation of a digital integrated system that is cleaner and more reliable.

Volvo’s entire car line-up will be fully electric by 2030, joining a growing number of carmakers planning to phase out fossil-fuel engines by the end of this decade.

The Swedish carmaker said 50% of its global sales should be fully-electric cars by 2025 and the other half hybrid models.

ABB launches a new white paper, finding significant emissions reductions with the use of high-efficiency motors.

"To meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, the world needs to reduce energy use and emissions. We encourage you to study this white paper to find out how much difference improving electric motor efficiency can make."

Up to 70% of electricity consumed by industry is used by electric motor systems. The technological advancement and adoption of high-efficiency motors and variable speed drives on the market, are key factors in achieving significant energy efficiency improvements in industry and infrastructure.

Discover how different stakeholders can lead and accelerate the industry change towards reaching the carbon reduction targets set by the Paris Agreement.