Pathways to decarbonisation
High-emitting and hard-to-abate industries are responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions, which makes them priority industries for decarbonisation. This collection of insights, developed by Deloitteâs leading global industry specialists, provides possible pathways to decarbonisation for high-impact sectors.
High-impact sectors and the road to net-zero
Decarbonisation has become an urgent priority for governments, investors, regulators, businesses, and society at large. With the world at risk of failing to meet its Paris Agreement commitmentsâand surpassing the two-degree Celsius warming thresholdâmany businesses have set aggressive net-zero commitments. Companies from high-emitting and hard-to-abate sectors play a crucial role in this effortâfrom their own value chains to helping reduce Scope 3 emissions of other industries.
These high-emitting and hard-to-abate industriesâwhich include power, steel, chemicals, automotive, food, and heavy road transportâaccount for approximately 82% of total global C02 eq emissions (figure 1). While their decarbonisation efforts are pivotal to hitting Paris Agreement targets, these companies are also burdened with long asset lifespans, high energy dependency, and complex electrification requirements. As a result, possible pathways to decarbonisation may involve massive technology investments, business model evolutions, cross-collaborationâand the adoption of an entirely new business mindset.
Building on feedback from clients, public sector teams, and the scientiïŹc community, these perspectives are designed to help leaders explore new modes of thinking, spark important conversations, and identify viable decarbonisation pathways for their organisations.
Each of the sector perspectives offers a foundational starting point for leaders who would like to better understand the challenges, levers, policy and regulatory landscape across regions, success factors, stakeholders, and the enormous potential of clean hydrogenâand includes links to in-depth reports to explore more.
Explore sector insights
Hydrogen
Clean hydrogen provides crucial emission savings to decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors such as industry (chemicals, steel, etc.), heavy-duty transport (aviation, maritime, etc.), and power production.
Chemicals
The chemical sector plays a key role in the industrial value chain and drives sustainability knowledge, innovation, and demand across industries.
Food
Unlike some other critical path or hard-to-abate sectors, the food industry can become net-positive.
Power
The electrification of transportation, buildings, industry, and other sectors will be a key pillar in path to net-zero.
Steel
A successful green steel transition will require the involvement of multiple stakeholders.
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References
- IEA, Global Energy Review: CO2 emissions in 2021 Analysis, March 2022.
- IEA, Chemicals Analysis, September 2022.
- IEA, Iron and Steel Analysis, September 2022.
- IEA, Cars and Vans Tracking Report, September 2022.
- IEA, Executive Summary â Breakthrough Agenda Report 2022, September 2022.
- IEA, World Energy Outlook 2022, p. 449, November 2022.
- IEA, Global Energy Review: CO2 Emissions in 2021, March 2022.
Jennifer Steinmann
