Businesses need new approaches to achieve climate stability, and there is no time to hesitate. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report 17, we have until 2030 to make significant emissions reductions, and by 2050 we must eliminate all carbon emissions. In the electricity sector, carbon-free energy is within sight. Wind and solar are already cost-competitive with conventional fossil fuel power. Harder-to-abate industries, such as aviation, face economic and commercial barriers to reducing emissions. To address the challenge, Clean Skies for Tomorrow’s Demand Signal working group members have forged a promising solution.
This is the time for innovation. In the 1990s, power from wind and solar cost more than 10 times what it does today. Massive investments in renewable energy technology, supported by new revenue streams (including the Energy Attribute Certificate), helped the industry to grow exponentially. Corporate leadership and financial ingenuity were a major factor in making renewable electricity competitive.
Chief Environmental Officer, Microsoft Lucas N. Joppa
Corporate buyers can also stimulate the use of renewable fuels for aviation. Flying is critical to our economy. We have new options to communicate virtually, but to forge meaningful connections we need to get people in the same room. Delivering time-sensitive essential goods, such as vaccines, requires aviation’s speed. As we recover from COVID-19, it is critical that we can return to the skies and do it sustainably.
The private sector can mobilize and help to lead the way. Other critical industries such as trucking, shipping, steel, aluminium and cement face similar challenges to air transport. SAFc provides a blueprint across sectors, equipping all players along the supply chain to contribute actively to the solution. With the new SAFc, and future tools like it, we can solve the issue of harder-to-abate emissions at an unprecedented speed.
Ned Harvey, Clean Skies for Tomorrow Coalition, RMI
The views expressed in this inisghts are those of the author alone
