Heavy industry and heavy-duty transport are responsible for nearly a third of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, a share that will double by mid-century without action (‘Tackling the harder-to-abate sectors: join the conversation on 7 July’, World Economic Forum, July 1, 2020). But these industries are ‘hard to abate’, with solutions to reduce emissions in their infancy or expensive.
While most sectors can decarbonise by switching their power source to electricity, in heavy transport and heavy industry it is either too hard or meaningless.
Another difficulty is that the lifespan of assets is extremely long – anything built today is likely to still be in operation in 2050. “2050 is one investment cycle away, and new technologies would have to reach a commercial threshold by the end of the decade to make a meaningful impact,” says Sora Utzinger, senior ESG analyst at Aviva Investors.
