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Actions taken in the next decade will be critical for a net-zero pathway—and for the more ambitious effort to limit warming to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels.
Now time
A net-zero future will require massive decarbonization of energy-intensive industries. New technologies and coalitions could help lead the way.
From brown to green
In this edition:
A quick briefing in five—
or a fifty-minute deeper dive
Capital ideas
By 2025, next-generation climate technologies could attract $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion of annual capital investment.
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The 1.5-degree challenge
Next tech
Next-generation climate technologies will play a critical role.
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Full spectrum
But climate tech is only one element of broader approaches to decarbonizing entire value chains, such as the one launched by the Mission Possible Project, whose initiatives target the hardest-to-abate industries.
The 1.5-degree challenge
Dive deeper
Innovating to net zero: An executive’s guide to climate technology
Article
Interactive
Innovating to net zero: An executive’s guide to climate technology
Article
Dive deeper
What will it take to green seven of the hardest-to-abate industries?
Blog
Dive deeper
Strategize
Companies in all industries should pay careful attention to their net-zero strategies, regardless of the company’s carbon intensity.
Innovating to net zero: An executive’s guide to climate technology
Article
Dive deeper
Time is running out for business leaders who don’t have a ‘net zero’ strategy
Blog
Dive deeper
Chatbot
Xiaoice released an empathetic chatbot that has 660 million users and 450 million third-party smart devices globally.
LOVOT
The Japanese companion robot LOVOT keeps its body temperature close to that of the human body (around 37 degrees Celsius) and asks for hugs. Demand for LOVOT surged more than 15-fold in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Projected global CO₂ emissions,
metric gigatons per year
2010
2020
2030
2040
2050
0
20
40
60
80
Electric-vehicle batteries
Battery-control software
Efficient
building systems
Industrial
electrification
•
•
•
•
Electricity
Zero-emissions
farm equipment
Meat alternatives
Methane
inhibitors
Anaerobic
manure
processing
Bioengineering
•
•
•
•
•
Agriculture
Long-duration
storage
Advanced controls
Software and communications Vehicle-to-grid integration
Building-to-grid integration
Next-generation
nuclear
High-efficiency materials
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Power grid
Low-cost production
Road-transport fuel
Ammonia
production
Steel production Aviation fuel
•
•
•
•
•
Hydrogen
Pre- and
postcombustion capture technologies Direct air capture Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage
Biochar
CO₂-enriched concrete
•
•
•
•
•
Carbon capture
Annual investment in climate technologies by 2025,
$ billion
Agriculture
Power
grid
Hydrogen
Carbon
capture
Electri-fication
700–1,000
400–600
200–250
100–150
10–50
Shipping
Construction
Transportation
Transportation
Developing transition strategies that use technologies such as sustainable fuels and novel propulsion systems for aviation and, in long-haul trucking, strategies to scale up electric or hydrogen alternatives
Transportation
Construction
Rationalizing supplier ecosystems for the steel industry to provide construction firms—which are the largest consumers of steel for commercial buildings and infrastructure projects—with easier ways to switch to green steel
Construction
Shipping
Creating green shipping corridors by identifying optimal cargo routes based on volume and feasibility; analyzing the most viable types of green fuel; and outlining infrastructure requirements, such as fuel availability in a port
Shipping
Executives and boards will want to take a crash course in climate science and economics (if they haven’t already) as they build into their business strategy a plan for reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
A climate-optimized business strategy requires retiring and repurposing carbon-intensive assets. But building new low-carbon businesses, pursuing M&A, and scaling up nature-based solutions such as reforestation may prove all the more important.
Next-gen climate tech will widen
the range of strategic moves, even
as business-model breakthroughs enable new approaches such as parametric pricing in insurance,
which makes climate risk more
insurable by paying out a set
amount based on the magnitude
of the event rather than the
magnitude of the loss.
For innovation challenges that
seem too expensive or risky for companies to take on
independently, companies can
look to form or join an innovation ecosystem of peers, academic institutions, and investors.
As investors set the rules for
judging companies’ net-zero plans, executives can help investors understand a company’s rationale
for approaching the transition, as
well as the actions and investments the company is pursuing.
Learn
Build
Innovate
Collaborate
Explain
What will it take to green seven of the hardest-to-abate industries?
Blog
Time is running out for business leaders who don’t have a ‘net zero’ strategy
Blog
1.5°C pathway
Current trends,
~3.5°C
Historical trends,
~5°C by 2100
Technologies to watch
