Summary:
The evolution of European industry toward climate neutrality is at the centre of current EU-level policy discussions. It is part of the European Green Deal proposed by incoming European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and appears in similar industrial strategy discussions in Member States such as Sweden, Netherlands, Spain, UK, Germany and France. Scenarios from climate scientists, governments and industry consistently show that it is possible: the clean production, efficient use and recycling of basic materials can together contribute to climate neutrality. Meanwhile, companies in the European materials sector are increasingly committed to carbon neutrality by 2050.
However, science, political commitment and even the eagerness of the industry to modernise are not enough to realise European commitments under the Paris Agreement. Nor are innovation funds or a carbon price alone able to transform the materials market with the scale and speed necessary to make a credible business case for climate-friendly options. Today, new, climate friendly production technologies are significantly more expensive than the existing processes. Incentives for efficient material choices and use are lacking. Therefore, industry and investors require and demand an integrated, coherent and comprehensive policy framework to support the creation of markets for climate-friendly materials and discourage greenhouse gas-intensive materials.
The Climate Friendly Material Platform suggests to consider the following package to strengthen existing policy and integrate new options.
IIT Project: Estrategia2050 (Estrategia2050)
Funding entity: Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica.
Publication date: 30-10-2019
IIT-19-109I
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