There Is No Business as Usual: Decarbonizing Industry Must Start Now

The report asserts that 'business as usual' is an unsustainable strategy for industrial sectors, as over 40 percent of annual greenhouse gas emissions originate from energy-intensive industries. It warns that failure to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 threatens the global economy with supply chain disruptions and value destruction for major commodities. The author argues that achieving a 1.5°C pathway requires not only technological shifts—such as the adoption of hydrogen and carbon capture—but also a reduction in the demand for materials like steel, cement, and plastic. The text emphasizes that an orderly transition is preferable to disruptive 'black swan' events and notes a shifting balance of market power away from fossil fuel industries toward climate-aligned corporations.

• Energy-intensive industrial sectors, including mining, steel, cement, petrochemicals, and heavy transport (ships, trucks, and planes), are responsible for more than 40 percent of annual greenhouse gas emissions.
• Achieving a 1.5°C warming limit cannot be accomplished through technology alone, even with carbon removal; it will require a reduction in the demand for materials such as plastic, cement, and steel, leading to a peak and subsequent decline in demand for iron ore, coal, steel, natural gas, and oil.
• The transition to decarbonized industry will create new commodity markets for hydrogen and carbon capture logistics, while eroding the geopolitical influence currently held by fossil-fuel-rich nations like Russia, China, and those in the Middle East.
• Failure to act collectively in the next decade could lead to 'panic mode' for decision makers, potentially halting international negotiations and reversing globalization in favor of national priorities like domestic job creation and supply security.
• Financial systems and investors are increasingly integrating climate alignment into lending decisions and capital access, shifting market power away from fossil fuel industries toward climate-aligned companies.

APA

RMI (2020). There Is No Business as Usual: Decarbonizing Industry Must Start Now. https://rmi.org/resources/there-is-no-business-as-usual-decarbonizing-industry-must-start-now/

Chicago

RMI. There Is No Business as Usual: Decarbonizing Industry Must Start Now. 2020. https://rmi.org/resources/there-is-no-business-as-usual-decarbonizing-industry-must-start-now/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=There Is No Business as Usual: Decarbonizing Industry Must Start Now |date=8 September 2020 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/there-is-no-business-as-usual-decarbonizing-industry-must-start-now/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2020there, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{There Is No Business as Usual: Decarbonizing Industry Must Start Now}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2020}, month = sep, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/there-is-no-business-as-usual-decarbonizing-industry-must-start-now/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }