Industries for Net Zero 2050: UNFCCC's Sustainable Drive

The Net Zero initiative by UNFCCC is a global campaign to rally leadership and support from businesses, cities, regions, investors and other non-State actors for a healthy, resilient, zero carbon recovery that prevents future threats, creates decent jobs, and unlocks inclusive, sustainable growth. It aims to build momentum around the shift to a decarbonized economy, where governments must strengthen their contributions to the Paris Agreement and limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

To achieve Net Zero emissions by 2050 at the latest, industries globally need to transform how they produce, consume and move about. They need to replace polluting fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, improve energy efficiency, electrify or switch fuels for transport and heating, and offset any remaining emissions by enhancing natural sinks or using carbon capture and storage technologies. They also need to align their emissions reduction targets with climate science, report their progress transparently, and collaborate with other stakeholders to scale up solutions.

Some of the most carbon-intensive industries are textile, distillery, oil refineries, steel plants, petrochemical, cement, paper, sugar and food processing. These industries face significant challenges in decarbonizing their operations and products, but also have opportunities to innovate and lead the transition to a Net Zero economy. Some examples of how they can do so include:

The textile industry, which accounts for about 10% of global carbon emissions, can reduce its emissions by using more recycled or organic materials, switching to renewable energy sources, improving water and energy efficiency, adopting circular business models and offsetting unavoidable emissions.

The distillery industry, which emits about 0.5% of global carbon emissions, can reduce its emissions by using biogas or biomass as fuel sources, capturing and reusing waste heat and CO2, improving fermentation efficiency, using low-carbon packaging materials and offsetting residual emissions.

The oil refineries industry, which emits about 4% of global carbon emissions, can reduce its emissions by using hydrogen or electricity as process heat sources, capturing and storing CO2 from flue gases or syngas streams, switching to low-carbon feedstocks such as biofuels or plastic waste, producing synthetic fuels or chemicals from captured CO2, and offsetting remaining emissions.

The steel plants industry, which emits about 7% of global carbon emissions, can reduce its emissions by using hydrogen or electricity as reducing agents instead of coal or coke, capturing and storing CO2 from blast furnaces or direct reduced iron processes, increasing scrap recycling rates, producing low-carbon steel products such as green rebar or green wire rod, and offsetting residual emissions.

The petrochemical industry, which emits about 3% of global carbon emissions, can reduce its emissions by using renewable electricity or hydrogen as feedstocks or energy sources, capturing and storing CO2 from steam crackers or reformers, increasing the use of bio-based or recycled materials, producing low-carbon chemicals such as green ammonia or green methanol, and offsetting remaining emissions.

The cement industry, which emits about 6% of global carbon emissions, can reduce its emissions by using alternative binders or additives such as fly ash or slag, switching to renewable energy sources such as biomass or solar thermal, capturing and storing CO2 from kilns or calciners, increasing the use of recycled concrete or low-carbon concrete products such as green cement or green concrete, and offsetting residual emissions.

The paper industry, which emits about 1% of global carbon emissions, can reduce its emissions by using more recycled or certified paper materials, switching to renewable energy sources such as biogas or hydroelectricity, improving pulp and paper production efficiency, adopting circular business models such as paper reuse or leasing, and offsetting residual emissions.

The sugar industry, which emits about 0.4% of global carbon emissions, can reduce its emissions by using more sustainable farming practices such as no-till or organic cultivation, switching to renewable energy sources such as bagasse or ethanol cogeneration, improving sugar milling and refining efficiency, producing low-carbon sugar products such as green sugar or green ethanol, and offsetting residual emissions.

The food processing industry, which emits about 1.5% of global carbon emissions, can reduce its emissions by using more local or organic food ingredients, switching to renewable energy sources such as biogas or solar power, improving food processing and packaging efficiency, adopting circular business models such as food waste reduction or valorization, and offsetting residual emissions.

These are just some of the many examples of how industries globally are taking action to become Net Zero industries. You can find more information on the UNFCCC website.