Harnessing Green Demand to Drive Sustainable Chemicals Production

The chemicals sector contributes approximately 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with production projected to grow up to 43% by 2050. While low-emission technologies exist, their scale-up is hindered by high capital intensity, long investment horizons, and complex value chains where intermediaries have little incentive to pay premiums for green inputs. To address this, the Center for Green Market Activation (GMA) and RMI are promoting demand aggregation and 'book and claim' systems using Environmental Attribute Certificates (EACs). These mechanisms allow downstream brands to pay for emissions reductions directly to upstream producers, bypassing value chain intermediaries and geographic constraints. GMA and RMI have launched a Low-Emissions Chemicals Initiative focusing on low-emissions ethylene to provide the demand certainty required for capital-intensive projects.

• Chemical production is a significant source of global emissions, accounting for roughly 5% of annual greenhouse gas emissions (2 billion metric tons), with production volumes expected to increase by up to 43% by 2050.
• The transition to low-emissions chemicals is stalled by commercial rather than technical barriers, specifically the high capital intensity of assets, long investment horizons, and a lack of demand certainty that makes producers risk-averse.
• Complex, multi-tiered value chains create a coordination challenge where intermediate producers with thin margins are unwilling to source higher-cost low-emissions inputs without guaranteed price premiums from their own customers.
• Book and claim systems using Environmental Attribute Certificates (EACs) decouple the green attribute from the physical product, allowing producers to sell the physical commodity locally while selling the certificate to any global buyer to cover the green premium.
• GMA and RMI have established a Low-Emissions Chemicals Initiative where downstream brands aggregate demand for the environmental attributes of low-emissions ethylene to provide investment certainty for upstream projects.

APA

RMI (2026). Harnessing Green Demand to Drive Sustainable Chemicals Production. https://rmi.org/resources/harnessing-green-demand-to-drive-sustainable-chemicals-production/

Chicago

RMI. Harnessing Green Demand to Drive Sustainable Chemicals Production. 2026. https://rmi.org/resources/harnessing-green-demand-to-drive-sustainable-chemicals-production/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Harnessing Green Demand to Drive Sustainable Chemicals Production |date=7 May 2026 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/harnessing-green-demand-to-drive-sustainable-chemicals-production/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2026harnessing, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Harnessing Green Demand to Drive Sustainable Chemicals Production}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2026}, month = may, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/harnessing-green-demand-to-drive-sustainable-chemicals-production/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }