Transitioning Industrial Clusters towards Net Zero

The World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Accenture and EPRI, outlines a playbook for transitioning industrial clusters to net zero. The report emphasizes that the industrial sector, responsible for 30% of global CO2 emissions, requires cross-sectoral collaboration to de-risk investments and share infrastructure. It profiles 11 global clusters across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, detailing their specific strategies for hydrogen adoption, carbon capture, and circularity. The initiative aims to eventually support 100 clusters to abate 1.6 billion tonnes of CO2 annually and create 17 million jobs.

• The industrial sector is responsible for 30% of global CO2 emissions, with six hard-to-abate sectors accounting for 80% of these emissions.
• The Transitioning Industrial Clusters towards Net Zero initiative aims to establish 100 industrial clusters to abate 1.6 billion tonnes of CO2 per year, protect and create 17 million jobs, and contribute $2.5 trillion to global GDP.
• The report proposes an 'Accelerating Industrial Clusters Playbook' based on four strategic approach areas: partnership, policy, financing, and technology, mapped across a development cycle from initiation to full-scale implementation.
• Global investment required to achieve net zero by 2050 is estimated at $100 trillion, with $32 trillion needed by the end of the current decade.
• The 11 profiled signatory clusters represent a collective abatement potential of 417 megatonnes of CO2, contributing $188 billion to GDP and protecting or creating 2.59 million jobs.
• Successful industrial cluster leadership requires 'technology optionality' to ensure decarbonization is affordable and reliable, rather than limiting scope to a single technology.
• The HyNet North West cluster in the UK is described as the country's most advanced industrial decarbonisation cluster, featuring over 40 offtake agreements for hydrogen and carbon capture and sequestration.
• The Port of Antwerp-Bruges aims to be the world's first port to reconcile economy, people, and climate, utilizing EU funding including €500 million for joint CO2 infrastructure via the Antwerp@C project.
• The Ordos-Envision Net Zero Industrial Park in Inner Mongolia aims to be the first zero-carbon industrial cluster in the world, utilizing an AIoT operating system called EnOS for intelligent management.

APA

World Economic Forum (2023). Transitioning Industrial Clusters towards Net Zero. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Tranisitioning_Industrial_Clusters_2023.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Transitioning Industrial Clusters towards Net Zero. 2023. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Tranisitioning_Industrial_Clusters_2023.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Transitioning Industrial Clusters towards Net Zero |date=January 2023 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Tranisitioning_Industrial_Clusters_2023.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2023transitioning, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Transitioning Industrial Clusters towards Net Zero}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2023}, month = jan, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Tranisitioning_Industrial_Clusters_2023.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }