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Industrial decarbonisation is essential for the global energy transition, as the sector accounts for 37% of total final energy use and one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. While advanced economies have decoupled growth from emissions, emerging economies are seeing surges due to the relocation of heavy industries. The paper highlights that for emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), the transition is a business opportunity to leapfrog to sustainable technologies, avoid stranded assets, and enhance competitiveness against mechanisms like the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). However, significant bottlenecks exist, including high capital costs and limited access to critical technologies like hydrogen-based steelmaking and carbon capture. The authors propose a global partnership framework based on four pillars: technology transfer, finance mobilisation, policy alignment, and capacity building, suggesting the Climate Club as a potential governance platform.

The report finds that while Kenya has successfully increased its renewable electricity generation to 87% by 2022, the transition lacks policy coherence regarding affordability and equity. High electricity tariffs, driven by infrastructure investments and a distribution monopoly, hinder industrial competitiveness and limit energy access for vulnerable groups. The analysis identifies a significant trade-off between coal-based industrialization goals and climate mitigation targets, though the latter has gained dominance due to international financial pressure. Institutional barriers, including corruption and limited resources for social equity, further impede a just transition.

The report analyzes climate finance in Kenya's arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL), specifically in Turkana, Elgeyo Marakwet, Narok, and West Pokot. It finds a significant misalignment in funding, with over 60% of climate finance directed toward mitigation despite the high vulnerability of these regions to climate-induced droughts and floods. The study identifies severe funding gaps, where actual budgetary allocations for climate action in some counties are as low as 2% to 9% of estimated needs. Key barriers include weak institutional capacity, fragmented governance, and limited access to formal financial markets. The report recommends strengthening county-level technical skills, promoting innovative financing like green bonds and blended finance, and mainstreaming climate priorities into local budgeting to improve adaptation outcomes.

The document examines the alignment of Indonesia's business sector with the 2035 NDC, highlighting a potential investment opportunity of USD 3.8 trillion. While over 100 Indonesian companies have adopted science-based targets, the report identifies significant barriers including regulatory uncertainty, fragmented institutional responsibility, and a lack of a standardized 'green investment' definition. It proposes solutions such as 'power wheeling' for renewable energy access, blended finance mechanisms, and sectoral decarbonization roadmaps for energy, industry, and transport to ensure the NDC is 'investible' and supports the national goal of net-zero by 2060.

The document outlines the economic and environmental necessity for South Africa to raise its climate ambition in its second NDC. It emphasizes that transitioning from a coal-dependent economy to one powered by renewables is an economic imperative to avoid trade risks from Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms (CBAMs) and to unlock new industries like green hydrogen and electric vehicles. The briefing provides sector-specific recommendations for power, transport, and heavy industry, while stressing the need for deep public-private collaboration and the inclusion of SMEs to achieve a net-zero target by 2050.

The document advocates for shifting the $1.1 trillion spent annually on fossil fuel subsidies toward clean energy technologies. It presents a business case where renewables-based power systems drive industrial competitiveness, attract private investment, and reduce exposure to volatile fuel markets. The report details how strategic incentives in China and India have accelerated EV adoption and suggests that power market reforms—such as decoupling electricity prices from natural gas—are essential to unlock the full potential of the energy transition.

The document examines how Poland's high energy intensity and reliance on fossil fuels create economic vulnerabilities, specifically through high electricity and gas prices and EU ETS costs. It posits that transitioning to low-emission technologies and improving energy efficiency can lower production costs and boost GDP. The briefing highlights the role of renewable energy, such as wind and solar, and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) in stabilizing energy prices. It also discusses the importance of emission transparency for consumer appeal and provides case studies of Polish companies like ORLEN, Galmet, and Kompania Piwowarska implementing decarbonization strategies.

The document asserts that diversifying export markets is essential for Canada's economic prosperity, particularly to reduce vulnerability to US trade decisions. It argues that because many lucrative global markets are rapidly implementing climate policies and energy transitions, Canadian firms need transition plans to maintain market access, attract capital, and avoid being outperformed by international competitors.

Private equity firms have invested nearly $200 billion in data center-related industries since January 2022, driving a strategy of acquiring vertically integrated retail energy utilities and fossil fuel power plants to secure power for AI infrastructure. BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) has acquired ALLETE Inc. and is pursuing a $38 billion takeover of AES, while Blackstone has invested in the Potomac Energy Center and is seeking to acquire TXNM Energy. The report argues that this expansion risks creating stranded high-emitting assets if AI demand is overestimated, while already causing increased electricity costs for ratepayers—rising up to 267% in some data center hubs—and significant environmental degradation. Organized community resistance has already delayed or blocked $64 billion in data center projects across 24 U.S. states.

The We Mean Business Coalition asserts that the Paris Agreement has created a shared global framework that made climate policy investible, leading to a surge in clean energy investment and the growth of renewables. Despite progress, such as renewables supplying nearly a third of global electricity and clean-energy investment surpassing $2 trillion in 2024, the document warns that overall ambition remains insufficient. It calls for governments to redirect fossil-fuel subsidies toward clean investment, reform energy markets, and deliver more credible Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by COP30 to ensure a stable economic and climatic future.

The We Mean Business Coalition calls on governments to redirect public finance away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy to unlock business investment. The statement argues that current national climate plans are insufficient and that removing approximately $1 trillion in annual fossil fuel subsidies is a critical economic strategy to ensure energy security and market fairness.

The document highlights Africa's strategic position as the holder of over 30% of the world's critical mineral reserves, essential for the global transition to renewable energy. It warns that without regional coordination, African nations risk remaining locked into raw materials extraction while major economies like the US, EU, and China compete for access. The authors advocate for the implementation of the Africa Green Minerals Strategy (AGMS) through a coordinated diplomatic framework and a continental task force to enhance negotiation power and promote regional value chains.

The document analyzes Nigeria's climate policy through four 'policy moments', highlighting a persistent struggle with institutional overlap and fragmented governance. It examines how internal competition between bodies like the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC) and the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy on Climate (OSPEC) dilutes Nigeria's international bargaining power. The paper also discusses the impact of global energy market shifts, the divestment of onshore assets by International Oil Companies (IOCs), and the challenges of removing fuel subsidies. It concludes that Nigeria must move away from transplanting foreign institutional models and instead develop a domestically driven, streamlined framework that integrates the petroleum sector into its climate goals.

Nigeria's climate agenda is hampered by overlapping institutions and a lack of elite consensus, which diminishes its bargaining power internationally. While the Tinubu administration has attempted to centralize governance through the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy on Climate (OSPEC) and the Presidential Climate Action Committee (PCAC), these moves risk further fragmentation by sidelining statutory bodies like the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC). Externally, Nigeria faces declining oil exports to China and India and increased competition from the US in European markets, intensifying the need for a successful energy transition. The report highlights a trend of International Oil Companies (IOCs) divesting from onshore assets due to regulatory instability, while noting that agile local firms are better positioned to navigate domestic complexities.

The Community Energy Toolkit (COMET) uses participatory workshops and simulations to help communities in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific plan for the productive use of energy (PUE). By allowing households and micro-enterprises to trial appliances and tariffs, COMET provides developers with demand-side intelligence—such as demand curves and willingness-to-pay—to reduce the risk of under-utilisation and under-recovery of revenues. A deployment in Pos Titom, Malaysia, demonstrated how testing specific enterprise options like grinders and ice-making can create concrete income pathways and decision-ready inputs for implementers. Across 110 communities in six countries, this co-creation approach has been linked to higher early-life utilisation and improved billed revenue.

The document argues that the AfCFTA can mitigate Africa's youth unemployment crisis by fostering a regional market for greentech goods and services. It highlights a significant trade deficit in green goods and suggests that localising production—supported by tax incentives, digital skills training, and the revitalisation of Indigenous environmental practices—can create millions of jobs. While carbon-intensive sectors may lose up to 4.2 million jobs by 2050, the energy transition could create up to 12 million jobs in the same period, provided that regulatory barriers are removed and investment is facilitated.

India is positioned as one of the most cost-competitive suppliers of green hydrogen, with a delivered cost to Rotterdam of US$794/t, comparable to Brazil and Chile. To capture a share of the projected 3.4–6 million tons of annual imports by the EU and East Asia by 2030, India must address demand uncertainty, financing, and infrastructure gaps. The report recommends building trade partnerships with the EU, Japan, and South Korea, harmonizing certifications, developing port infrastructure through international investment, expanding demand aggregation models, establishing green shipping corridors to Singapore, Rotterdam, and Busan, and creating dedicated financing mechanisms to de-risk projects.

A group of military and defence experts argues that including clean energy investments in NATO's 1.5% non-core spending target is essential for European security. They highlight that the EU continues to fund the Russian war effort through fossil fuel imports, noting that in 2024, the EU paid nearly €22 billion for Russian fossil fuels, exceeding the €19 billion in financial support provided to Kyiv. The authors contend that decentralized energy sources like wind and solar are more resilient to military attack than large power stations and that transitioning away from fossil fuels reduces vulnerability to price spikes and supply manipulation by malign actors.

The report examines the paradox of Indonesia's nickel sector, where a critical mineral for the clean energy transition is processed using carbon-intensive captive coal. It identifies a significant expansion of captive coal capacity, projected to exceed 32 GW by 2031, driven by resource nationalism and the need for stable power in remote regions. The document contrasts 'Green Opportunism' (short-term gains via coal) with 'Green Developmentalism' (long-term competitiveness via decarbonisation) and proposes specific roles for Chinese stakeholders to support a sustainable transition through technical assistance, green finance, and market-shaping rules.

The author contends that decarbonization is becoming the primary driver of global economic progress, citing the rapid adoption of renewables and electric vehicles in the EU, UK, and China. To remain competitive and diversify trade away from the US, Canada is urged to strengthen industrial carbon pricing, expand clean electricity grids, reduce oil and gas methane emissions, and maintain electric vehicle availability standards.