United for Net Zero Public Private Collaboration to Accelerate Industry Decarbonization 2025

Way forward to net zero requires a cultural shift Breaking the barriers to buy-in, business case, carbon calculation and mitigation across value chains, and green business growth is critical for companies seeking to reach their net-zero objectives. As more efforts are required to reach net zero, public-private collaboration is pivotal in overcoming key barriers and providing the conditions and signals for businesses to advance their climate actions. To address these challenges, the Industry Net Zero Accelerator initiative, through consultations with its community, identified eight public-private collaboration opportunities supported by real-world case studies from early movers, providing actionable insights to make the most of existing collaboration mechanisms and engage in net-zero policies design: –Opportunity 1: Understand and leverage public financial mechanisms for net zero –Opportunity 2: Engage your sector to co- develop financial mechanisms for net zero –Opportunity 3: Facilitate carbon tracking adoption within your value chain –Opportunity 4: Contribute to improve and harmonize carbon accounting standards –Opportunity 5: Proactively support net-zero solutions implementation across your value chain –Opportunity 6: Collaborate with governments to shape the policies for value chain decarbonization –Opportunity 7: Co-invest in climate technologies development, infrastructure and market creation –Opportunity 8: Help create the policy conditions for climate technologies adoptionThese opportunities provide a path for companies to take action and proactively engage and collaborate with public stakeholders to accelerate decarbonization. This will require a cultural shift, where private and public stakeholders work together more systematically to create the conditions for industrial decarbonization. This mindset can enable increased resilience and mutual benefits as both sectors seek to achieve their net- zero targets while driving economic growth and improving quality of life for people and society. Given the complexity of decarbonization challenges, this white paper aims to assist businesses and governments in enhancing their industrial decarbonization strategies. Ideally, this white paper will encourage more organizations to embrace these opportunities by engaging with public bodies, joining a multistakeholder community and contributing to the collaborative effort of exchanging knowledge and best practices. The World Economic Forum’s Industry Net Zero Accelerator initiative is committed to supporting leaders across industry sectors, governments, academia and civil society by closing the awareness and knowledge gaps necessary to accelerate the net-zero journey. Moving forward, the initiative community will continue to inform decision-making, celebrating industry leaders’ achievements, highlighting change stories and promoting learning (notably through its digital repository of decarbonization case studies24) and supporting SMEs in this transition.25 The urgency and opportunities to make a difference have never been greater – organizations must act now, proactively co-shaping and learning as they progress towards net zero. United for Net Zero: Public-Private Collaboration to Accelerate Industry Decarbonization 25