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The document challenges the notion that heavy transport and industrial heat are 'hard-to-abate' sectors, suggesting that they can be decarbonized profitably. It emphasizes the role of plummeting renewable energy costs and the potential for massive efficiency gains in trucking, aviation, shipping, and the production of steel and cement. The author advocates for 'integrative design' and structural efficiency to drastically reduce the volume of materials needed, thereby lowering both costs and emissions.

The Union of Concerned Scientists argues that the US can technically achieve a 50% reduction in heat-trapping emissions by 2030 and net-zero by 2050 through widespread electrification and renewables. However, it emphasizes that carbon-only modeling is insufficient; a transformative transition must actively dismantle structural racism and economic inequality by prioritizing marginalized communities, ensuring a fair transition for fossil fuel workers, and shifting power from corporate interests to community governance.

The document details a modeling framework combining EnergyPATHWAYS (EP) for demand-side stock accounting and the Regional Investment and Operations (RIO) model for supply-side least-cost optimization. It outlines nine scenarios for the U.S. energy transition, including a 'Zero CO2 2050' case and various electric vehicle (EV) adoption speeds. The methodology emphasizes high temporal and spatial resolution, co-optimizing electricity and fuel systems to meet economy-wide emissions constraints.

The document contends that carbon capture and storage (CCS) is an expensive, energy-intensive technology that entrenches fossil fuel reliance rather than facilitating a transition to renewable energy. It identifies Louisiana as a primary target for CCS development due to existing petrochemical infrastructure and a regulatory environment managed by the Department of Natural Resources. The brief warns that CCS infrastructure, including pipelines, poses severe health and safety risks—such as toxic gas leaks and catastrophic ruptures—and would disproportionately impact Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities. Furthermore, it asserts that CCS threatens Louisiana's wetlands and that the majority of captured carbon is currently used for enhanced oil recovery to produce more oil.

Reclaim Finance argues that Japan's three megabanks (Mizuho, MUFG, and SMBC) maintain policies that allow continued support for the coal industry. While the banks have updated policies to restrict direct project financing for new coal plants 'in principle', these policies contain exceptions and do not apply to general corporate financing. Between October 2018 and October 2020, these banks provided $39bn, $36bn, and $32bn respectively to companies on the Global Coal Exit List. The document contrasts this with European peers like Crédit Agricole and notes increasing shareholder and activist pressure on the Japanese institutions to align with the Paris Agreement.

The guide argues that public understanding of net-zero is currently limited and that governments must adopt evidence-based, tangible, and inclusive communication strategies to mobilize society. It recommends avoiding technical jargon, using positive imagery, and focusing on local realities and immediate actions to build public confidence and support for climate targets.

The report characterizes "net zero" agendas as a "Great Cheat," asserting that they allow major polluters to continue emissions while relying on unproven technologies and flawed offsetting schemes. It details how these entities use lobbying, financial influence over academia, and corporate capture of international forums like the UNFCCC to displace real emission reductions. The document highlights specific failures in the plans of companies such as Shell, Total SA, and JBS, and calls for a transition to "Real Zero" by 2030 through systemic change and climate justice.

The document analyzes how 'Big Polluters' across various sectors use 'net zero' targets as a form of greenwashing to delay real emission reductions. It identifies critical conceptual flaws in these plans, such as reliance on unproven geoengineering and carbon offsets, and details how these corporations influence political and academic institutions to validate their agendas. Case studies on companies like Shell, Total SA, and JBS illustrate the gap between public commitments and actual business operations, while the report calls for a transition to 'Real Zero' by 2030.

The report claims that "net zero" agendas are a form of greenwashing used by "Big Polluters" to avoid reducing emissions. It identifies these entities as industries responsible for the majority of historical emissions, including fossil fuels, agribusiness, and aviation. The document details how these actors use risky technologies like BECCS and carbon offsets as "dangerous distractions" and employ lobbying, financial contributions, and academic partnerships to shape climate policy in their favor. Case studies on JBS, Shell, and Total SA are used to illustrate how these plans often mask continued pollution and lead to land grabbing in the Global South.

The report contends that "net zero" pledges from "Big Polluters"—including fossil fuel, agribusiness, and tech giants—are deceptive strategies to avoid responsibility for climate change. It identifies "dangerous distractions" such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), and carbon offsets, arguing these schemes often lead to human rights abuses and "carbon colonialism." The document details how these corporations influence policy through lobbying, financial contributions to politicians, and the funding of academic research at institutions like Stanford and MIT to validate "net zero" narratives. Case studies of Shell, Total SA, and JBS are used to illustrate how these plans often mask continued production of high-emissions products.

The QGasSP project is developing an open-source, browser-based tool to quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to spatial planning, focusing on building energy use, transportation, and land use change. The tool employs two distinct frameworks: a territorial approach for monitoring direct emissions within a specific area and a consumption-based approach using a tiered hybrid Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method to enable cross-regional comparisons by tracking global supply chain emissions. To ensure accuracy, the tool combines top-down European datasets (e.g., Eurostat, Exiobase) with bottom-up local data. The report details baseline analyses for four pilot areas—County Meath (Ireland), Rathlin Island (Northern Ireland), Kymenlaakso region (Finland), and the City of Edinburgh (Scotland)—to test the tool's applicability across different urban types and planning scales. The authors conclude that while European datasets provide indicative results, local data is essential for reliable planning, and they suggest that future integration with urban digital twins could further enhance GHG quantification.

The document outlines a proposed U.S. policy package comprising 45Q tax credit enhancements, the SCALE Act, and appropriations from the Energy Act of 2020. Together with the American Jobs Plan, these measures aim to grow U.S. carbon management capacity 13-fold by the mid-2030s. Key recommendations include introducing a 'Direct Pay' option for tax credits, increasing credit values to $85 per metric ton for industrial applications and $180 for direct air capture, and extending the construction window to 2035. Additionally, the SCALE Act is presented as a means to overcome 'chicken-and-egg' infrastructure barriers through DOE cost sharing, EPA permitting support, and the creation of the CO2 Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (CIFIA) for low-interest loans.

The report analyzes the legal and economic feasibility of a social contract intended to restructure Poland's hard coal mining sector. It concludes that the contract lacks direct legal effect and violates EU competition law, particularly regarding subsidies for operating mines. The author argues that the European Commission is unlikely to authorize new state aid for coal production given the European Green Deal, and that the sector's continued preferential treatment hinders Poland's energy transition.

Ember estimates that Drax's proposed BECCS plant would cost UK energy bill-payers £31.7 billion over a 25-year lifetime, adding approximately £16 annually to each household's energy bill. The report warns that the project's ability to provide negative emissions is highly uncertain due to the carbon neutrality assumptions of woody biomass, which may instead result in net emissions in worst-case scenarios. It argues that relying on BECCS for the UK's net-zero targets constitutes a serious policy risk and recommends tightening biomass regulations and exploring alternative negative emission sources.

The report evaluates Colorado's emissions trajectory and proposes a '1.5°C Scenario' to bridge the gap between current policies and climate goals. This scenario emphasizes a rapid transition to 100% clean electricity by 2035, the electrification of transportation and buildings, and the reduction of industrial methane leaks. Implementing these measures is projected to reduce net emissions by 85% below business-as-usual levels by 2050, while creating up to 36,000 new jobs and providing significant public health benefits, including the prevention of over 1,400 deaths annually by 2050.

The report identifies five key technical solutions for net-zero—energy efficiency, electrification, low-carbon fuels, heavy industry decarbonization, and carbon removal—and five strategic recommendations for Canada, including the creation of industry consortia, Indigenous leadership, a whole-of-government approach, a just transition for workers, and a transparent framework for carbon offsets.

The analysis evaluates Estonia's readiness for a hydrogen economy, focusing on the transport and industrial sectors as primary drivers for decarbonization. It models two scenarios (low and high) for hydrogen penetration by 2050, estimating that total investments could reach EUR 22.4 to 44.7 billion. The report highlights that while the transport sector—particularly shipping and rail—and the production of green ammonia and methanol offer the highest potential, significant barriers exist, including a lack of refueling infrastructure, high initial costs, and the need for a national hydrogen strategy. To unlock this potential, the study emphasizes the necessity of increasing renewable electricity capacity, specifically through offshore wind, and providing public investment to kick-start the market.

The document outlines how fossil fuel companies use misleading advertising to appear more sustainable than they are. It specifically critiques claims regarding the sustainability of natural gas, the viability of carbon capture and storage (CCS), the effectiveness of carbon offsets and nature-based solutions, and the carbon neutrality of wood biomass energy.

A coalition of NGOs calls on Total shareholders to reject the company's climate strategy and leadership, citing insufficient emission reduction targets, planned increases in hydrocarbon production, and a lack of transparency regarding Scope 3 emissions.

Reclaim Finance asserts that the EU sustainable taxonomy's climate mitigation and adaptation criteria have been watered down due to pressure from Member states and industry lobbies. The author claims the current proposal allows for the burning of all forest biomass and creates pathways for fossil gas and nuclear energy to be labeled as sustainable, thereby undermining the EU Sustainable Finance Strategy and contradicting scientific research.