Mission Possible: Climate-Action Partnership Launched to Help Transform Heavy Industry and Transport
Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) is part of new coalition of climate leaders focused on supercharging efforts to decarbonize some of the world’s highest-emitting industries in the next 10 years.
Geneva, Switzerland, January 27, 2020 – The Mission Possible Partnership (MPP), a new coalition formed to accelerate the decarbonization of global industries representing 30 percent of global emissions, launched today at the Davos Agenda.
Run by the Energy Transitions Commission, Rocky Mountain Institute, the We Mean Business coalition and the World Economic Forum, the Mission Possible Partnership aims to accelerate several pathways for decarbonizing heavy industry and transport. It will do this by unifying the critical actors needed to influence and enable industry transformation at speed and scale.
The Partnership builds on the success of the Mission Possible Platform, which launched at the United Nations Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit in 2019 and has grown from 30 companies in 2019 to 400—who all are committed to working on concrete actions toward net-zero. The International Energy Agency will be a strategic partner for the Partnership, central to engagement with governments and bringing to bear its expertise on modeling and technology roadmaps.
The Partnership will help more industries mobilize resources, align across a greater number of organizations, and accelerate the Race to Zero. This initiative will help carbon-intensive sectors reach their targets and bring in the systemic change needed to succeed by providing a clear path to net-zero emissions.
“The number of country commitments to net-zero emissions targets by 2050 has grown during 2020 and is significant,” said Christoph Wolff, head of mobility, World Economic Forum. “Public, private cooperation across the transport and heavy industry sectors is crucial for the next phrase of action. The launch of the Mission Possible Partnership at the Davos Agenda will accelerate these efforts in the run-up to COP26 in November.”
“As we move into the decade of delivery, we must not only grow the number of actors committed to a resilient, zero-carbon future, we must foster the radical collaboration needed to drive transformational change in every sector of the economy,” said Nigel Topping, UK high level champion, COP26. “We are thrilled to be working hand in hand with the Mission Possible Partnership to drive this work forward in seven of the heaviest-emitting sectors of the economy.”
MPP is centered on the idea that, while the Paris Agreement lays the groundwork for global cooperation, its focus on national targets will not generate the plans and solutions necessary to achieve efficient and effective transition strategies for global industries on its own. The most important missing piece of the global climate action architecture is an effort by sectors, complementing country-centric strategies with action from global industries to unlock technology and energy transformation. This is particularly important for heavy-emitting industries.
The Mission Possible Partnership will be the delivery mechanism for Race to Zero Breakthroughs in hard-to-abate sectors. These are specific near-term tipping points for each sector of the global economy in the race to net zero emissions, being launched by COP26 President Alok Sharma and US Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry as part of the Davos Agenda.
In late 2021, the Partnership will aim to showcase net-zero agreement breakthroughs in shipping, aviation and steel. Within three years, it plans to help companies complete climate action agreements in these sectors as well as trucking, chemicals, cement and aluminum. Together, these seven sectors comprise 30 percent of global emissions. Within five years, the Partnership aims for clear shifts in investment patterns across the seven sectors and will be pursuing net-zero climate action agreements in additional sectors, including potentially food and agriculture.
About the partnership
The Partnership is comprised of four core partners—the Energy Transitions Commission, Rocky Mountain Institute, the We Mean Business coalition and the World Economic Forum. The International Energy Agency will provide guidance and input on various aspects of MPP’s work, including engagement with governments and energy modeling. Initial funders in the Mission Possible Partnership include the Bezos Earth Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies and Breakthrough Energy. MPP’s efforts will be strengthened by the expertise of its supporting partners, which rank among the world´s most influential organizations in industrial decarbonization, finance and policy development. These include the Center for Climate-Aligned Finance, Ceres, the Climate Champions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Global Maritime Forum, SYSTEMIQ, the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
The seven platforms under formation include:
- Shipping—Getting to Zero Coalition: 157 companies to date, spearheaded by supporting partner the Global Maritime Forum and already engaged to ensure the viability of zero-emissions vessels along deep-sea trade routes by 2030 and build the infrastructure for scalable zero-carbon maritime energy.
- Aviation—Clean Skies for Tomorrow: 80 companies already engaged in driving a transition to sustainable aviation fuels and industry decarbonization.
- Trucking—Road Freight Zero Coalition: 40 companies already engaged in defining pathways and solutions that accelerate the viability and deployment of zero emissions fleets and infrastructure for heavy-duty trucking toward a 1.5° trajectory by 2030.
- Chemicals—Low-Carbon Emitting Technologies: 20 companies to date already engaged in accelerating the complex transition to low-carbon-emitting technologies by addressing technology, regulatory, funding and market challenges.
- Steel—Net-Zero Steel Initiative: 12 companies to date engaged in shaping the policy, market and finance environment required to underpin the transition to net-zero steel.
- Aluminum—Aluminum for Climate: a regionally diverse group of 12 organizations to date including some of the largest producers globally, engaged on technology roadmaps and stimulating demand for low-carbon aluminum.
- Cement—Clean Cement Coalition: two major companies engaged in developing clean cement standards, stimulating demand for cleaner products, and enlarging the circle of progressive companies committing to net-zero targets.
Paul Bodnar, managing director, Rocky Mountain Institute says, “The Paris Agreement was a leap forward in organizing the work of nations on climate but hitting 1.5°C also requires a strategy that speaks the language of global industries, which transcend borders in their supply chains, markets and investors. With a focus on the seven sectors that account for 30 percent of global emissions, the Mission Possible Partnership has developed an approach to help entire industrial ecosystems define and organize their journey to net-zero emissions.”
Media Inquiries please contact:
Alexandra Chin
+1 9732620002
media@rmi.org
About the Energy Transitions Commission
The Energy Transitions Commission is a diverse group from across the energy landscape, aiming to accelerate change towards low-carbon energy systems that enable robust economic development and limit the rise in global temperature to well below 2°C.
About Rocky Mountain Institute
Rocky Mountain Institute’s mission is to transform global energy use to create a clean, prosperous, and secure low-carbon future. RMI engages businesses, communities, institutions, and entrepreneurs to accelerate the adoption of market-based solutions that cost-effectively shift from fossil fuels to efficiency and renewables.
About We Mean Business
We Mean Business is a global non-profit coalition working with the world’s most influential businesses to take action on climate change. Our mission is to ensure that the world economy is on track to avoid dangerous climate change while delivering sustainable growth and prosperity for all.
About World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.