Net zero transition – the latest signals of change: May 19, 2023
We Mean Business Coalition
Net Zero Economy
As the G7 Summit begins in Japan, a report out this week shows that the wider G20 group has avoided backsliding on climate despite the rush to boost energy security following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. The research by Bloomberg NEF showed that 17 countries maintained or improved their net-zero policy ratings, though the group as a whole are still falling behind on the goals of the Paris Agreement. The US has risen up the rankings thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act.
France has put forward its own plan to support a decarbonized reindustrialization of the country. The ‘green industry’ bill aims to support the development of green hydrogen, batteries, wind power, heat pumps and solar panels. A ‘green industry’ tax credit is expected to create 40,000 new jobs by 2030, while public procurement will also be mobilized to boost consumption of greener products.
And ahead of a second round of negotiations to craft a global treaty on plastic waste, the UN Environment Program has laid out a blueprint to reduce plastic waste 80% by 2040. The report focusses on the three main market shifts needed to create a ‘circular economy’: reuse, recycling and reorientation of packaging from plastics to alternative materials. It also suggests that removing fossil fuel subsidies, alongside other measures, would help make recycling more stable and profitable.
Energy
A report out this week from Coalition partners the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) sets out a five point plan to help businesses and policymakers boost the global energy storage sector. CISL says this is a ‘crucial piece’ of the energy decarbonization puzzle which can help G7 countries meet commitments made last month to accelerate the clean energy transition.
There has been a slew of recent announcements in the UK energy storage sector, including an agreement between UK-based Octopus Energy and UAE-based Masdar to optimize the latter’s £1billion UK battery storage pipeline – enabling the faster rollout of renewables in the UK.
While in the US, the White House has released a new plan aimed at breaking down barriers to the huge rollout of high voltage power lines needed to connect clean energy projects to the grid. The proposals, which include streamlining permitting processes, are essential to decarbonizing the country’s power supply – as new wind and solar projects face long backlogs for connection to the grid.
Transport
Volvo Trucks recently announced that it has tested its hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric trucks on public roads in Northern Sweden. The tests, which the company says are going well even in harsh weather conditions, mark a significant milestone on the path to zero emission long-haul transport. President of Volvo Trucks, Roger Alm, said: “Regardless of the transport assignments or where in the world our customers are operating, waiting is not an option. In a few years, our customers will be able to completely eliminate CO2 exhaust emissions from their trucks.”
India’s Ashok Leyland and Egyptian car manufacturer El Nasr Automotive Manufacturing Company have signed a new partnership which is expected to boost the share on electric vehicles on Egypt’s roads. The companies will extend and modernize an El Nasr factory in Cairo to allow the manufacture of electric trucks, vans and buses.
And in the US, retail giant Walmart has shared more details of its plans for a huge investment in EV fast-charging stations at stores across the country – a move set to greatly increase the availability of charging. The company says 70 per cent of target sites are in low and moderate-income communities, and its EV charging strategy revolves heavily around affordability.
Land & Nature
Barclays is strengthening its deforestation rules for clients in the beef sector, according to policy documents seen by Reuters. Effective from 1 July, the policies would prohibit clients from ‘the production or primary processing of beef on or from areas in the Amazon cleared or converted after 2008’ and commit to a fully deforestation-free South African beef supply chain by 2025 in areas including the Amazon and Cerrado.
Elsewhere, a new startup is hoping to disrupt the meat market by upcycling food waste and byproducts into high-protein ingredients that can be used to make alternative protein products. Planetarians says that life cycle carbon emissions of its ingredients are 50 times lower than conventional meat – whilst also achieving price parity.
Underpinning efforts to deploy nature-based solutions to climate, from reducing land use to rebuilding ecosystems, is a fast-growing market in nature tech. Reuters reports that over the past 18 months finance has been flooding into companies providing innovations from digital monitoring systems, to cellular agriculture such as lab-grown cotton and solutions to boost soil health – as the likes of the Inflation Reduction Act and EU Green New Deal help close the funding gap.
Built Environment & Heavy Industry
World Green Building Council has launched a new playbook to help the sector embed the adoption of circular design principles at every stage of the building lifecycle. The playbook calls on organizations to view buildings as a “material bank” – where every brick and window pane can be reused and recovered at the end of that building’s life.
Green steel could help rebuild America’s Rust Belt communities while also slashing carbon emissions, according to research released by the Ohio Valley River Institute earlier this month. A well-planned transition to fossil-fuel-free steel in western Pennsylvania, the traditional heart of American steelmaking, “could grow total jobs supported by steelmaking in the region by 27 percent to 43 percent by 2031, forestalling projected job losses,” the study says.
Staying in the US, heat pump startup Quilt has raised $9 million in seed funding for its electric system for residential use, as it aims to provide households with fossil fuel alternatives for heating and cooling that are as easy to use as the systems they replace. Demand for heat pumps is expected to grow in the US, driven by government incentives including tax credits and rebates.
Company Commitments
Total number of companies committed to RE100: 406
Total number of companies committed to EP100: 12
Total number of companies committed to EV100: 129
Total number of companies committed to EV100+: 5
Total number of companies committed to SteelZero: 36
Total number of companies committed to ConcreteZero: 30
Total number of companies and SMEs committed to SBTi: 5,077 (2,398 committed, 2,679 approved)
Total number of SMEs committed to SME Climate Hub: 6,076
Total number of companies committed to The Climate Pledge: 400
Webinars & Events
CLG Europe: Nature Restoration Law – Sowing the seeds for the EU’s economic resilience and competitiveness: May 24
FT Moral Money Europe: May 24-25
(20% discount with code WMBC)
Economist Sustainability Week USA: May 30-June 1
(15% discount with code WMBC/MP15)
Coalition Jobs
Various posts at BSR
Various posts at CDP
Various posts at Ceres
Various posts at CLG Europe (CISL)
Various posts at Climate Group
Various posts at WBCSD
Various posts at SBTi