International Collaboration

International collaboration in support of reaching net zero has increased substantially in recent years, but greater sectoral and geographical coverage will be required, alongside a focus on co-ordination across sectors and initiatives, as well as on supporting technologies and policies.  

Without enhanced international collaboration in support of decarbonisation, getting on track with the NZE Scenario could be delayed by decades, as shown by the Low International Co-operation case in the IEA Net Zero by 2050 Roadmap.  

International collaboration could accelerate shared innovation and technology deployment, support the agreement of common international standards, and foster the development of joint approaches to achieve a level playing field for the trade of low-emission goods. International collaborative action can make the transition to net zero faster, lower cost and easier to achieve. In order to maximise these benefits, collaboration in these sectors should be inclusive, be well-coordinated and support interaction between governments, businesses and civil society. 

While the number of initiatives in a given sector and their members’ share of global activity alone cannot be used to quantify the strength of international co-operation, they provide useful indicators of stakeholders’ willingness to collaborate. For a more detailed assessment of the quality of international collaboration, the annual Breakthrough Agenda Report covers the status of co-operation in power, hydrogen, road transport, steel, agriculture; the upcoming 2023 edition will include new coverage of the cement and building sectors. 

The majority of these sectoral net zero-aligned initiatives are driven by the private sector and focus on collaboration among businesses to foster knowledge sharing and to scale up development of new technology. While public and hybrid (public–private) sectoral initiatives also exist in these sectors, some are not yet aligned with net zero. 

The coverage of net zero initiatives by share of global sectoral activity has expanded rapidly over the course of the past two years, but varies significantly by sector. Initiatives in the aviation sector cover the highest share of activity at 80%, due to the International Air Transport Association’s commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions in the industry by 2050, which covers 290 airlines in 120 countries. The initiatives with the second and third highest coverages of sectoral activity are located in the cement and steel sector: Concrete Action for Climate and the Steel Breakthrough cover around one-third. Net zero initiatives in other sectors cover less than one-quarter of global sectoral activity. 

Many of the existing collaborative net zero initiatives have more extensive coverage in Europe and among OECD member countries. Public and private representation from Africa, Asia and Latin America is currently much lower. However, initiatives covering non-OECD countries that aim to decarbonise heavy industry and transport sectors do exist, such as Baowu Steel’s “Global Low-Carbon Metallurgical Innovation Alliance”. Nevertheless, many of these initiatives are not net zero aligned and serve largely as knowledge exchange platforms. Expanding the geographic coverage of already existing initiatives should remain an important priority for international collaboration on net zero emissions in the respective sectors.  

International collaboration can take several forms, one of which is the engagement of public and private actors via sectoral net zero initiatives. The number of these initiatives saw an unprecedented increase in number in 2021, when thirteen new sectoral initiatives were launched, including public-sector, private-sector and hybrid initiatives, thanks in part to the catalytic effect of COP26 in Glasgow, United Kingdom.  

In 2022 three additional initiatives have been added: Mission Possible Ammonia, ConcreteZero and the Toulouse Declaration on aviation. Each uses a different framework for collaboration, from endorsement of a strategy to ramp up the production of zero-emission ammonia, to joint commitments to use 100% net zero concrete by 2050, to setting ambitious interim milestones to accelerate the transition both in the European as well as the international aviation sector.  

Beyond collaborative initiatives focused on individual sectors, there has also been growth in international collaboration across the entire heavy industry and long-distance transport sectors, including the following:  

• Launched in 2019, the Leadership Group for Industry Transition represents one of the main public–private fora for collaboration in these sectors. It currently includes 18 country members and 18 company members. Additionally, the Mission Possible Partnership, established in 2021, focuses solely on the private sector and the development of industry-backed pathways to net zero. Both initiatives cover the steel, cement, chemicals, aluminium, aviation, shipping and trucking sectors. 
• In 2021 the G7 launched the Industrial Decarbonisation Agenda. This collaboration aims to develop joint approaches to industry decarbonisation among G7 members, with a focus on definitions and policies for near zero-emission materials during 2022 and emissions accounting methodologies in 2023. 
• At the end of 2022, the G7 agreed the terms of reference for a Climate Club, which would aim to bring governments together at a senior level, to help forge collaboration on key areas of industry decarbonisation. This would include policies for climate mitigation, approaches to transform industries and the role of technical and financial assistance to accelerate the transition in emerging markets and developing economies. 
• In 2023, the IEA launched the Working Party on Industry Decarbonisation (WPID), which aims to provide policy officials with a working-level forum to accelerate the implementation of successful policies. This will likely cover activities across several industry sectors.