High-Emitting Sectors: Challenges and Opportunities for Low-Carbon Suppliers

Sep 3, 2024 High-Emitting Sectors: Challenges and Opportunities for Low-Carbon Suppliers
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Half the emissions reductions needed to achieve net-zero goals by 2050 are expected to come from technologies not yet available at scale. This report provides analysis from the suppliers’ perspective on the value chain, decarbonization pathways, challenges and opportunities for scaling-up zero-emission technologies.

Suppliers are a key player in this ecosystem as they are instrumental in driving innovation, piloting low-carbon technologies and bringing these solutions to market, thereby influencing downstream emissions across the global value chain.

The report is informed by lessons learned from the First Movers Coalition (FMC) and the recently launched First Suppliers Hub. It analyses challenges and opportunities facing suppliers across the FMC’s seven sectors, comprising carbon dioxide removal, plus the six high-emitting sectors that represent ~25% of global greenhouse gas emissions: aviation, shipping, trucking, aluminium, cement/concrete and steel.

It proceeds to describe three cross-sector obstacles for suppliers in accelerating the commercialization of their low-carbon technologies and proposes potential solutions:

  • Lack of emissions measurement methods and standards

  • Availability and cost of inputs

  • Buyers’ risk aversion and unfamiliarity with decarbonized solutions

The First Suppliers Hub (FSH), launched at the Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters in January 2024, is a global repository where suppliers provide information on their low-carbon projects and connect with FMC members, policy-makers and financiers looking to grow the availability of low-carbon materials and services. This report and the FSH were developed in collaboration with Deloitte Consulting.

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