CORPORATE CLIMATE STOCKTAKE 2023

The Corporate Climate Stocktake 2023 reveals that while clean technology adoption is accelerating in sectors like power and road transport, systemic barriers—including infrastructure gaps, high 'green premiums', and workforce shortages—persist. The report argues that national emissions targets alone are insufficient and calls for multilateral coordination of industrial policy and sector-specific strategies to drive the diffusion of clean technologies.

• Clean technology adoption is accelerating in several sectors, often exceeding previous forecasts. In the power sector, solar and wind capacities deployed in 2020 were 80% and 20% higher than 2015 projections, respectively. Global passenger EV sales grew fourfold between 2020 and 2023.
• Costs for key clean technologies have fallen significantly over the last decade: solar capital costs decreased by 85% from 2010 to 2021, lithium-ion battery costs dropped by 25% between 2013 and 2022, and green hydrogen production costs fell by approximately 65% from 2010 to 2022.
• Despite technological progress, over 30% of surveyed business leaders believe their companies will still rely on fossil fuels into the 2050s, even if they have set net zero targets earlier.
• Government regulation is viewed as the primary driver for the energy transition, ranked by over 70% of surveyed companies as more important than consumer (37%) or investor (25%) pressure.
• The steel sector faces a significant 'green premium', with zero-carbon technology costs remaining 20% higher than conventional blast furnace production, complicating large-scale deployment in competitive emerging markets.
• Aviation's near-term decarbonization depends on Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), but planned production capacity of 12 Mt by 2030 falls significantly short of the Breakthrough Agenda's target range of 55-65 Mt.
• The cement industry is hindered by a lack of viable net-zero technology and a dwindling supply of common clinker substitutes like fly ash and blast furnace slag as other sectors decarbonize.
• In the shipping sector, 55% of surveyed business leaders identify technical feasibility as a top barrier to adopting alternative fuels, with significant uncertainty remaining over whether hydrogen, methanol, or ammonia will be the dominant pathway.
• The green hydrogen economy is being catalyzed by government strategies in over 40 countries, with the EU's Green Deal providing demand signals such as transitioning 30% of EU steel to green by 2030.
• Agriculture emissions are driven by livestock and land use change; while zero-deforestation commitments are increasing, rising demand and prices for beef and palm oil continue to drive deforestation.

APA

We Mean Business Coalition (2023). CORPORATE CLIMATE STOCKTAKE 2023. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/WMBC_Corporate_Climate_Stocktake_2023_v5.pdf

Chicago

We Mean Business Coalition. CORPORATE CLIMATE STOCKTAKE 2023. 2023. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/WMBC_Corporate_Climate_Stocktake_2023_v5.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=We Mean Business Coalition |title=CORPORATE CLIMATE STOCKTAKE 2023 |date=2023 |url=https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/WMBC_Corporate_Climate_Stocktake_2023_v5.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wemeanbusinesscoalition2023corporate, author = {{We Mean Business Coalition}}, title = {{CORPORATE CLIMATE STOCKTAKE 2023}}, institution = {We Mean Business Coalition}, year = {2023}, url = {https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/WMBC_Corporate_Climate_Stocktake_2023_v5.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }