What does it take to achieve net zero? Opportunities and barriers in the steel, cement, agriculture, and oil and gas sectors

This report focuses on “active engagement”, where investors engage with high-emitting sectors, through companies in which they hold ownership stakes and with the actors to whom they provide debt financing, and place expectations on them to adopt new low-emissions technologies, practices and business models.

To engage effectively, investors need to understand:

• What high-emitting companies and sectors should be doing to decarbonise production processes or to shift business models;
• The policies and other system conditions necessary for companies to succeed with their decarbonisation strategies; and
• When sectors and companies can adopt credible transition strategies that investors can support, and when other strategies, such as divestment, are likely to be more impactful.

The experts suggest that investors put focus on engaging with value chains, advancing sector wide transitions, aiming for sectorial targets, and committing to not providing financing to new oil and gas exploration and development. The executive summary synthesizes these overarching insights; each section of the report is tailored to the four individual sectors.