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Title | [UNFCCC] Action to Decarbonize High Emitting Industrial Sectors Gathers Pace – Key Steps by the Technology Executive Committee |
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UN Climate Change News, 6 May 2024 - A growing number of global and regional initiatives are driving action to deploy decarbonization technologies across all high emitting industrial sectors. This was a central conclusion of experts gathering last month for a meeting of the Technology Executive Committee (TEC), the policy arm of the UNFCCC’s Technology Mechanism. The industrial sector has immense potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as it currently accounts for around 34 per cent of all emissions. Some 70 per cent of industrial emissions come from hard-to-abate industries - industries in which reducing the greenhouse gas footprint is particularly challenging because they are energy- and carbon-intensive. Decarbonization initiatives in these sectors are therefore crucial to keeping the 1.5°C temperature goal of the Paris Agreement within reach. The cement, steel, glass and chemicals sectors, along with the heavy-duty transport sector, have so far received limited attention in countries’ national climate action plans (Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs). The next round of countries’ NDCs, with a time horizon of 2035, is due to be submitted next year. Mapping exercise outlines transformative action The TEC, in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, recently conducted a mapping exercise to review transformative climate action initiatives in hard-to-abate industries, including steel, cement, chemicals and petrochemicals. The exercise sees the integration of renewable energy in electrification as a crucial avenue for decarbonizing industries, along with reduced emissions, heightened energy efficiency and increased productivity and innovation. Examples of already successful action to cut emissions in hard-to-abate industries include:
Some specific findings and recommendations from the TEC mapping exercise:
Next steps for international action to tackle industry emissions Based on the results of the mapping exercise, the TEC, in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, agreed to develop a policy brief and organize a Technology Day focusing on the integration of industrial decarbonization in updated NDCs that countries around the world are preparing this year. The policy brief will provide concrete policy and technology options to reduce emissions from the steel, cement, chemicals and petrochemicals industries and ways to implement them, including through international cooperation, research, development and demonstration (RD&D) and the use of blended finance to de-risk private sector investment. And at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, later this year the TEC will host the Technology Day, dedicated to advance the inclusion of hard-to-abate industries in updated NDCs and supporting the implementation of countries' identified climate actions in this area. UN Climate Change, in collaboration with the COP28 Presidency and Bloomberg Philanthropies, also supports the decarbonization of heavy-emitting industries through the recently launched Industrial Transition Accelerator (ITA). More information Updates on the activities of the Technology Mechanism, including both the TEC and the Climate Technology Centre and Network, are available here, and regularly posted in the UN Climate Change Technology Linkedin group. All meeting documents and recordings from the 28th meeting of the TEC are available online. Further information on TEC's transformative industry initiatives and the mapping paper can be found here. The TEC can be contacted through the UNFCCC secretariat at tec(at)unfccc.int. |
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Category | UNFCCC |
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Sources | United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change |