The UN High-Level Climate Champions, COP26 President Alok Sharma, COP25 President Carolina Schmidt, together with the UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa, today launch the Race to Zero Breakthroughs at the World Economic Forum’s Davos Agenda.
The Race to Zero Breakthroughs have been published in a paper, which sets out the specific, near-term tipping points for more than 20 sectors that make up the global economy, forming a master plan around which business, governments, and civil society can unite ahead of COP26. Collectively, they articulate what key actors must do, and by when, to deliver the sectoral changes needed to achieve a resilient, zero carbon future by 2050 at the latest.
COP26 President Designate Alok Sharma said, “It is vital that businesses go net zero, as part of our fight against climate change. Which is why we look to all sectors to reach a point at which a clean way of operating becomes the norm. Because if every sector plays its part, we will see the global economy on the right path to achieving net zero by 2050.”
To meet this challenge, actors covering 20% of their sector are being asked to commit to each breakthrough. By the time governments convene in Glasgow in November for the UN climate negotiations, the UN High-Level Champions — Nigel Topping and Gonzalo Muñoz — are now calling on local governments, businesses and investors to achieve breakthroughs in at least 10 sectors of the economy.
The Race to Zero Breakthroughs have been drawn from the Climate Action Pathways, a set of comprehensive roadmaps to achieve the Paris Agreement in line with 1.5°C across all sectors, which were developed by the Marrakech Partnership — a vast coalition from across the climate action ecosystem — all of whom will need to play their part to transform their sector to deliver the Breakthroughs.
One key member of this coalition is the Mission Possible Partnership, which yesterday unveiled a new major multi-stakeholder platform – leveraging the power of World Economic Forum, the Energy Transitions Commission, the Rocky Mountain Institute and We Mean Business – to help deliver the Race to Zero Breakthroughs in seven of the most energy-intensive industries, including steel and shipping.
