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The document criticizes Nippon Steel and Cleveland-Cliffs for investing in coal-fired infrastructure despite public commitments to green steel. It highlights a $350 million renovation of a blast furnace at Gary Works by Nippon Steel and the refurbishment of a 73-year-old furnace by Cleveland-Cliffs in Middletown, Ohio, despite the latter receiving a $500 million Inflation Reduction Act grant for decarbonization. The author suggests that automotive companies and international markets, particularly in Europe, should use their purchasing power to pressure steelmakers to transition away from coal.

Carbon Market Watch asserts that free allowances in the EU ETS have failed to drive decarbonisation, instead allowing heavy industry to generate profits while avoiding pollution costs. The organization criticizes the European Commission's revision proposal for extending free allocations and calls for a full phase-out by 2034 for CBAM sectors and a plan for all other sectors, insisting that any remaining subsidies be tied to proven investments in zero-carbon transformation and social safeguards.

The report argues that corporate procurement can be a transformative driver for decarbonizing heavy industry and transportation. It proposes strategies such as demand aggregation, environmental attribute certificates, and advanced purchasing commitments to overcome early-market barriers and reduce costs for low-emission technologies.

The document provides a comprehensive analysis of how the transition to net-zero emissions affects nine global sectors: agriculture, carbon markets, critical minerals, digital transformation, energy transition, fisheries, heavy industries, shipping, and textiles and garments. It examines the intersection of trade policies and climate action, highlighting the risks of 'green protectionism' and the potential for developing countries to capture new economic opportunities through value addition and green industrialization. The reports emphasize the need for international cooperation to ensure a just transition, particularly for least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS).

The report outlines the commercial and climate imperatives for heavy industries to adopt carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies. It identifies synergies where industrial waste, infrastructure, and expertise can accelerate the scale-up of biogenic, geochemical, and synthetic CDR. The document provides a framework for monetization through carbon credits, green premiums, and government incentives, while warning against 'mitigation deterrence'—the risk that CDR replaces essential decarbonization efforts.

The document argues that Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries are heavily reliant on carbon-intensive heavy industries but possess significant potential for clean industry due to renewable energy resources and carbon dioxide storage. It calls for EU industrial policy to shift toward a place-based approach that supports countries with high deployment potential regardless of their current innovation track record. Key recommendations for the EU include revising the Public Procurement Directive to include lifecycle emissions and redesigning the Innovation Fund for first-of-a-kind national deployments. For CEE national governments, the statement recommends earmarking EU ETS revenues for climate action, implementing Carbon Contracts for Difference, and conducting integrated infrastructure planning for hydrogen and carbon dioxide transport.

The author reflects on the mixed progress of 2024, noting record renewable deployment alongside rising global emissions and a political shift toward anti-climate positions. To overcome these hurdles, the author proposes a strategy focused on the lowest-cost electricity mix, including 'clean firm' technologies like nuclear and geothermal, and the use of carbon capture in heavy industry. The document emphasizes the need for regionally differentiated policies and a realistic acknowledgment of the long-term role of fossil fuels to build durable coalitions for action.

The document identifies concentrated carbon capture as a "safe bet" for industrial processes with high-concentration CO2 streams, such as cement and ammonia production, while categorizing non-concentrated applications (e.g., natural gas power) as "risky bets." It highlights the technology's potential role in Canada's net-zero pathways, noting that while it could reduce oil and gas emissions by 17 to 50 megatonnes by 2030, its large-scale deployment depends on long-term policy certainty and government financial support, including investment tax credits.

The document examines the transition of energy-intensive heavy industries toward net-zero emissions, highlighting how global trade dynamics and national policies in developed economies impact emerging markets. It identifies four primary technological levers for decarbonization: energy efficiency, alternative fuel use/electrification, material efficiency, and carbon capture and storage. The author argues that while developing countries with abundant renewables can become new green industrial hubs, they face significant risks from carbon border measures, green protectionism, and reduced access to secondary materials. The briefing emphasizes the need for international coordination on standards, technology transfer, and finance to ensure a just transition for emerging and developing economies.

The steel sector accounts for approximately 1 percent of US emissions and 7 percent of global emissions. The document argues that the US steel industry is at a critical juncture where it must either maintain coal-based production or reinvest in modern assets. It asserts that immediate congressional action and policy interventions can ensure US producers remain competitive while transitioning to cleaner production methods, particularly as the sector is influenced by global overcapacity and international trade benchmarks.

The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is a cap-and-trade mechanism designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the power, heavy industry, aviation, and maritime sectors by pricing pollution. It operates by setting a decreasing cap on total emissions, divided into EU Allowances (EUAs), which companies can trade or buy at auction. While the system has raised over €152 billion since 2005, its effectiveness has been historically hampered by an oversupply of permits and the extensive use of free allocations to prevent 'carbon leakage'. A separate system, ETS2, will be introduced in 2027 to cover buildings and road transport. The document highlights concerns regarding the environmental integrity of the current cap relative to the EU's carbon budget and the lack of transparency in how member states spend auction revenues.

The report advocates for low-carbon procurement in China's heavy industry to reduce transition costs via economies of scale and shared green premiums. It outlines a five-part implementation framework and identifies five priority value chains: steel-automotive, steel-construction, cement-construction, aluminum-automotive, and plastics-consumer goods.

The Clean Air Task Force (CATF) provides a framework for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and selected Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs to transition from application to action. CATF emphasizes prioritizing hydrogen for hard-to-abate sectors, ensuring transparency in project planning, coordinating funding across federal programs, and deepening community engagement to ensure equitable and climate-beneficial outcomes.

Canada's 2022 emissions rose by 2.1% from 2021 to 685 Mt CO2e, though they remain 6.4% below 2005 levels. The increase was primarily driven by oil and gas production and the building sector, which together accounted for 72% of the rise. While the electricity sector has seen a 55.6% reduction since 2005, overall progress is hindered by a growing, energy-intensive economy that offset the 22.9 Mt CO2e reduction achieved through climate policy and market drivers.

The guide describes 'book and claim' as a flexible chain of custody model where producers 'book' emissions savings from clean fuels or materials in one location, and customers 'claim' those benefits for climate disclosures elsewhere via certificates. This system is designed to channel finance into nascent decarbonization technologies, such as sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), by allowing corporations to cover the price premium of cleaner alternatives when physical offtake is impractical. To ensure accountability, the system relies on independent verification of the physical supply chain, the use of registries to prevent double counting, and adherence to standardized reporting guidelines.

The policy brief examines the potential of the US Inflation Reduction Act's hydrogen production tax credit to scale clean hydrogen and decarbonize heavy industry. It argues that for grid-connected electrolyzers to qualify, the US Treasury must implement three pillars: additionality, emissions-accurate temporal accounting, and deliverability. Without these, the credit risks inducing higher emissions. If implemented correctly, the credit could provide up to $3 per kilogram of clean hydrogen, drive investment in geothermal and long-duration storage, and establish US leadership in international clean commodity standards.

The Longship project is a Norwegian industrial-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) network designed to decarbonize heavy industries where electrification is not feasible. The project consists of two initial capture sites—a cement plant in Brevik and a waste-to-energy plant in Oslo—and the Northern Lights transport and storage infrastructure. The Norwegian government is funding approximately two-thirds of the first phase, which exceeds 3.5 billion CAD, with the goal of creating a commercially viable cross-border storage service for European emitters. The document highlights the importance of holistic government support, including regulatory streamlining and increasing carbon pricing, while noting criticisms regarding the use of public funds to support the oil and gas sector.

The report identifies 601 International Climate Initiatives (ICIs) launched since 2013, noting that while the number of initiatives grew, productivity and performance have trended downwards since 2019. There is a significant underrepresentation of the Global South in terms of funding, leadership, and participation. Regarding the COP26 'Glasgow initiatives', the report finds they theoretically cover 75% of the 14 GtCO2e ambition gap for 2030, but current signatories would only provide 4 GtCO2e in additional reductions; an additional 7 GtCO2e could be achieved if more governments signed up.

The memo argues that green hydrogen is essential for decarbonising sectors where electrification is not possible, specifically heavy industry and transportation. RMI identifies that while momentum exists, implementation gaps in funding and policy must be addressed to make the solution viable by 2030.

The author contends that the proposed ETS2 for buildings and road transport risks exacerbating energy poverty and failing to drive decarbonization unless it is accompanied by complementary policies to remove renovation barriers and a reform of the current ETS to eliminate free allowances for heavy industry.