Scaling the Industrial Transition 2025

Strategic priorities The transition is not just about cutting emissions, but about building competitive, productive and sustainable industries. Technologies are largely proven; the challenge now is delivery – aligning capital, infrastructure and policy to turn intent into investment and move from incremental progress to coordinated, system-wide execution. Five strategic priorities will define the transition going forward: 1 Create standards-based demand: Lock in long-term offtakes through public procurement, standardized green-material contracts and buyers’ clubs – and back them with credible product standards and carbon data transparency. Advance policy harmonization across key sectors – such as EU shipping alignment despite the delayed IMO decision – to provide consistent signals for investment and trade. The FMC demonstrates how coordinated buyer commitments can de-risk early markets and scale low-carbon solutions. 2 Build shared infrastructure: Plan and finance integrated energy, hydrogen, CO2 and port systems that serve multiple sectors, making shared grids, pipelines and storage hubs the core enablers of scale rather than secondary priorities. 3 Lower the cost of capital: Use blended finance, carbon contracts for difference and carbon-finance mechanisms to hedge exchange-rate volatility, alongside sovereign guarantees to de-risk early projects and crowd in private capital – particularly in emerging markets where financing costs remain prohibitive. 4 Prioritize market-ready solutions: Fast-track electrification, efficiency and storage through grid access and corporate PPAs. Retire inefficient assets and secure critical mineral supply chains and fund technologies that meet market costs today – while supporting hydrogen and CCUS where infrastructure and offtakes enable near-term viability. 5 Balance top-down systems with bottom-up innovation: In a period of policy uncertainty, top-down regulation can no longer be the sole driver. Scaling now depends on bottom-up innovations – from AI, digital tools and industrial start-ups – that advance independently of policy cycles. Align regulatory direction with technological ingenuity to turn local breakthroughs into scalable, system-wide solutions, ensuring flexibility and faster cost reduction. Achieving industrial decarbonization at scale depends on execution, not just invention. Progress hinges on linking technology with the systems that enable it: demand signals, shared infrastructure, affordable finance and verified data. Aligning these levers will determine whether the transition remains a patchwork of pilots or becomes the foundation of a competitive, net-zero global economy. Scaling the Industrial Transition: Hard-to-Abate Sectors and Net-Zero Progress in 2025 23