Foreword The energy transition is rapidly progressing in areas where technologies, supportive policies and the business case for investments align. However, to achieve a net-zero future, faster advancements across all sectors and countries are required, particularly in hard-to-abate industries such as steel, aluminium, cement, primary chemicals, oil and gas, aviation, shipping and trucking. These sectors play an important role in our economies, with heavy industry alone contributing to around 30% of global gross domestic product (GDP)1. Significantly reducing emissions in these sectors present unique physical, macroeconomic, and business challenges. The World Economic Forum’s Net Zero Industry Tracker 2024 offers a data-driven assessment of energy transition progress in these eight challenging sectors, which collectively account for around 40% of global GHG emissions. These sectors are vital to the global economy as demand for heavy industry and heavy transport sectors is projected to rise by more than 60% on average by 2050. This publication marks the third edition of the report, and we are encouraged to see some progress. We have observed a reduction in average emissions intensity of 4.1% in the last five years (2019-2023), with an accelerated reduction in the last year (2022- 2023) of 1.2%. Nevertheless, the current pace of progress is insufficient to meet net-zero emissions scenarios. As the recent report by the United Nations Environment Programme highlights, current promises and commitments place us “on track for best-case global warming of 2.6°C this century”.2 This underscores the urgent need to accelerate energy transition efforts. The physical challenges of emissions reduction have been further compounded by macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions. Higher interest rates strain investments in energy transition technologies, especially given most of these sectors operate in highly competitive profit margin environments. Geopolitical tensions and conflicts have led to an increase in energy prices, leading to some nations prioritizing energy security and national industrial protectionism over sustainability. Additionally, trade restrictions and tariffs increase the cost of products with already-high green premiums, such as green steel and aluminium. However, technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), shows significant potential to drive progress. Over the past year, AI has enhanced the speed and economics of capital projects, improved asset management, optimized energy efficiency and enabled more accurate emissions tracking. The World Economic Forum, with support from Accenture, seeks to identify key barriers in these sectors, align stakeholders on essential actions, and promote collaboration to accelerate progress. These sectors cannot achieve their targets in isolation and require support from the broader ecosystem, particularly for capital deployment, as our report highlights that around 57% of the necessary investments must come from sources outside of these sectors. The majority of these investments will be needed to build infrastructure for clean power, clean fuels, and carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS). The most challenging aspects of the transition necessitate close public-private collaboration. The Forum embraces this multistakeholder approach and is working to drive action with leading governmental bodies such as Clean Energy Ministerial and G20, as well as multilateral initiatives like the First Movers Coalition (FMC), Transforming Industrial Clusters, Mission Possible Partnership (MPP) and the Industrial Transition Accelerator (ITA). Only by advancing this collaborative spirit can we enable a more effective approach to the energy transition, ensuring that all sectors contribute to a sustainable future. Muqsit Ashraf Group Chief Executive, Accenture StrategyRoberto Bocca Head, Centre for Energy and Materials; Member, Executive Committee, World Economic Forum Net-Zero Industry Tracker: 2024 Edition December 2024 Net-Zero Industry Tracker: 2024 Edition 3