COP26: Amazon, Apple, and Mahindra form an alliance to boost demand for zero-carbon technology
Amazon, Apple, Mahindra Group, and Dalmia Cement (Bharat) are among the founding members of the ‘First Movers Coalition,’ which aims to increase demand for zero-carbon solutions. The Coalition was launched at the COP26 Summit, which is now taking place in Glasgow.
Around half of the emission reductions required to meet the 2050 climate objectives are based on technologies in the early stages of development, demonstration, or prototype. In order to bring these technologies to market and make them cost-competitive, we need to accelerate innovation in this decade.
The World Economic Forum, in collaboration with US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Change John Kerry, has launched the First Movers Coalition to help this effort. This new platform will assist businesses in making purchase commitments that will result in increased market demand for low-carbon solutions.
The pledges are meant to be large enough to make decarbonization technologies commercially viable. The Coalition will have a long-term impact by investing in these technical solutions and setting milestones this decade.
Steel, cement, aluminum, chemicals, shipping, aviation, and trucking account for more than a third of global carbon emissions, but none of them have cost-competitive clean energy alternatives to fossil fuels.
The eighth, direct air capture, might assist achieve net-zero global emissions by lowering atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, but it will require technological innovation to reach economic viability, according to the WEF.
Agility, Airbus, Amazon, Apple, Bain & Company, Bank of America, Boston Consulting Group, Boeing, Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited, Delta Air Lines, Mahindra Group, Nokia, ReNew Power, Salesforce, United Airlines, Volvo Group, and Yara International are among the Coalition’s founding members.
Borge Brende, the President of the World Economic Forum, stated, “We now have the instruments we need to cut our emissions and develop a more resilient and inclusive economy in the future. Clear market demand is required for innovators and investors to play their share in addressing the climate challenge.”