An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now

1.0
Electrify Transportation
Reduce 8 gigatons of transportation emissions to 2 gigatons by 2050.
1.1
Price

Achieve price parity between EVs and gas-powered vehicles in the U.S. by 2024, in India and China by 2030.

Updated April 2024
Insufficient Progress

$54,288 (average EV) vs. $47,209 (average full-size car) in the U.S.

Source: Kelley Blue Book, 2023

1.2
Cars

Increase EV sales to 50% of all new car sales by 2030, 95% by 2040.

Updated April 2024
On Track

EV share of car sales was 17.7% in 2023

(BEVs and PHEVs)

Source: BloombergNEF, 2024

1.3
Buses

Electrify all new buses by 2025.

Updated April 2024
Insufficient Progress

43% of new bus purchases were electric in 2023

Source: BloombergNEF, 2023

1.4
Trucks

Increase sales of zero-emissions medium and heavy trucks to 30% of all new truck sales by 2030; 95% by 2045.

Updated April 2024
Failing

Electric share of global truck sales was 2% in 2023

(BEVs, FCVs, and PHEVs)

Source: BloombergNEF, 2023

1.5
Miles ↓ 5 Gt

Increase miles driven by electric vehicles (two- and three-wheelers, cars, buses, and trucks) to 50% of the global total by 2040, 95% by 2050.

Updated April 2024
Insufficient Progress

EV global share of miles driven across road vehicles in 2022: 10.4%

(BEVs, FCVs, and PHEVs)

Source: BloombergNEF, 2023

1.6
Planes ↓ 0.3 Gt

Increase low-carbon fuel (SAF) to 20% of all aviation fuel by 2025; zero-emissions fuel to 40% by 2040.

Updated April 2024
Failing

0.4% of fuel use is low carbon (SAF)

Source: BloombergNEF, 2024

1.7
Maritime ↓ 0.6 Gt

Shift all new construction to “zero-ready” ships by 2030; zero out emissions for the shipping industry by 2050.

Updated April 2024
Failing

Zero percent of new ships are carbon-neutral

Source: Global Martime Forum, 2023

2.0
Decarbonize the Grid
Reduce 24 gigatons of global electricity and heating emissions to 3 gigatons by 2050.
2.1
Zero Emissions ↓ 16.5 Gt

Tap emissions-free sources to generate 50% of electricity worldwide by 2025, 90% by 2035.

Updated April 2024
Insufficient Progress

39% of electricity came from emissions free sources in 2022

Source: Energy Institute, 2023

2.2
Solar & Wind

Make solar and wind cheaper than fossil fuels in all countries by 2025.

Updated June 2024
On Track

59% of the world’s population lives in nations where renewable sources are cheaper than fossil fuels

Source: BloombergNEF, 2024

2.3
Storage

Electricity storage drops below $50 per kWh for short duration (4–24 hours) by 2025, $10 per kWh for long duration (14–30 days) by 2030.

Updated April 2024
Failing

Short-term storage: $263/kWh

Long-term storage: New technologies needed

Source: BloombergNEF, 2023

2.4
Coal & Gas

Eliminate new coal and gas plants from 2024 on; retire or zero out emissions in existing plants by 2025 for coal and by 2035 for gas.*

Updated April 2024
Code Red

Now in operation globally: 6,580 coal-fired plants and 9,278 gas and oil plants

Source: Global Energy Monitor, 2024

As of 2023, separate figures for oil and gas plants are not available.

 

2.5
Methane Emissions ↓ 3 Gt

Reduce flaring and eliminate leaks and venting from coal, oil, and gas sites by 2025.

Updated April 2024
Code Red

Methane emissions from the energy sector were 3 gigatons in 2023

2.6
Heating & Cooking ↓ 1.5 Gt

Cut fossil fuels for heating and cooking in half by 2040.*

Updated April 2024
Failing

In 2021, building heating generated 2.5 Gt of emissions and over 7 billion people used fossil fuels for cooking

2.7
Cleaner Economy

Triple the ratio of GDP to fossil fuel consumption.

Updated April 2024
Failing

Global average: $241 of GDP per Exajoule of Fossil Fuel Consumption

3.0
Fix Food
Reduce 9 gigatons of agricultural emissions to 2 gigatons by 2050.
3.1
Farm Soils ↓ 2 Gt

Improve soil health by increasing carbon content in topsoils to a minimum of 3% by 2035.

Updated May 2024
Limited Data

Limited Data

3.2
Fertilizers ↓ 0.5 Gt

Stop overuse of nitrogen-based fertilizers and develop cleaner alternatives to cut emissions in half by 2050.

Updated April 2024
Failing

The world uses 65.5 kilograms per hectare of nitrogen-based fertilizers

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization and Our World in Data, 2023

3.3
Cows ↓ 3 Gt

Cut emissions from beef and dairy consumption by 25% by 2030, 50% by 2050.

Updated April 2024
Code Red

3.3 gigatons of emissions from beef and dairy in 2021

3.4
Rice ↓ 0.5 Gt

Reduce methane and nitrous oxide from rice farming by 50% by 2050.

Updated April 2024
Failing

1.1 gigaton of CO2e resulting from rice production

Source: Our World in Data, 2024

3.5
Food Waste ↓ 1 Gt

Cut food waste to 10% by 2050.

Updated April 2024
Failing

38% of food in the US is wasted

Source: ReFed, 2022

4.0
Protect Nature
Go from 6 gigatons of emissions to -1 gigatons by 2050.
4.1
Forests ↓ 6 Gt

Achieve net zero deforestation by 2030; end logging and other destructive practices in primary forests.

Updated April 2024
Code Red

17.6 million hectares of permanent tree cover loss

Source: Global Forest Watch, 2022

4.2
Oceans ↓ 1 Gt

Protect 30% of oceans by 2030, 50% by 2050.

Updated April 2024
Failing

8.2% of coastal oceans are protected

Source: Protected Planet, 2024

4.3
Lands

Expand protected lands to 30% by 2030, 50% by 2050.

Updated April 2024
Failing

16% of global lands are protected

Source: Protected Planet, 2024

5.0
Clean Up Industry
Reduce 12 gigatons of industrial emissions to 4 gigatons by 2050.
5.1
Steel ↓ 3 Gt

Reduce emissions from steel production 50% by 2030, 90% by 2040.

Updated April 2024
Code Red

1.9 metric tons of CO2 per metric ton of crude steel cast

Source: WorldSteel, 2023

5.2
Cement ↓ 2 Gt

Reduce emissions from cement production 25% by 2030, 90% by 2040.

Updated April 2024
Code Red

0.6 metric tons of CO2 per metric ton of cement produced

5.3
Other Industries ↓ 3 Gt

Reduce emissions from other industrial sources (primarily plastics, chemicals, paper, aluminum, glass, and apparel) 60% by 2050.

Updated April 2024
Code Red

5 gigatons emitted from other industries

Source: Climate TRACE, 2024

6.0
Remove Carbon
Remove 10 gigatons of carbon dioxide per year from the atmosphere.
6.1
Nature-Based Removal ↓ 5 Gt

Remove at least 3 gigatons per year by 2030 and 5 gigatons by 2040.

Updated April 2024
Code Red

0.02 gigatons of nature-based carbon removal being tracked

Source: Climate Focus, 2024

6.2
Engineered Removal ↓ 5 Gt

Remove at least 1 gigaton per year by 2030 and 5 gigatons by 2050.

Updated April 2024
Code Red

Currently, 0.0002 gigatons are being removed annually

Source: CDR.fyi, 2024

7.1
Net Zero Pledges

Each country commits to reach net zero by 2050.*

Updated April 2024
Insufficient Progress

China: net zero by 2060

U.S.: net zero by 2050

EU: net zero by 2050

India: net zero by 2070

Russia: net zero by 2060

7.2
Action Plans

Each country is on track to cut emissions in half by 2030.

Updated April 2024
Code Red

2030 trajectory:

China: 4°C

US: 3°C

EU: 2°C

India: 4°C

Russia: 4°C

 

Source: Climate Action Tracker, 2023

7.3
Carbon Price

National prices on greenhouse gases are set at a minimum of $75 per ton, rising 5% annually.

Updated April 2024
Insufficient Progress

Global average price: $33 per ton

23% of global emissions are covered by a carbon pricing mechanism

 

7.4
Subsidies

Direct subsidies to fossil fuel companies are eliminated.

Updated April 2024
Code Red

$1.3 trillion in explicit fossil fuel subsidies globally

7.5
Methane

Control flaring, prohibit venting, and mandate prompt capping of methane leaks.

Updated April 2024
Code Red

Countries representing 50% of global methane emissions have signed the global methane pledge

Source: Global Methane Pledge, 2024

7.6
Refrigerants

Countries commit to phasing out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).

Updated April 2024
On Track

All five major emitters have ratified the Kigali amendment

8.1
Voters

The climate crisis becomes a top-three issue.

Updated April 2024
Failing

Climate’s rank as top issue: seventh globally

Source: Ipsos, 2023

 

8.2
Government

A majority of key government officials support the drive to net zero.

Updated April 2024
Limited Data

Limited Data

8.3
Business

100% of Fortune Global 500 companies commit to reach net zero by 2050.

Updated April 2024
Failing

9.2% of Fortune Global 500 Companies have a net zero commitment

Source: Speed & Scale, 2024

Data is pulled from Fortune Global 500 websites to track emissions targets of each corporation

8.4
Education Equity

The world achieves universal primary and secondary education by 2040.

Updated April 2024
Failing

77% of students complete lower secondary school

Source: World Bank, 2023

8.5
Health Equity

The world eliminates gaps in pollution-linked mortality rates among racial and socioeconomic groups by 2040.

Updated April 2024
Failing

2.3 years (global average loss of life due to air pollution)

Source: Air Quality Life Index (AQLI), 2023

8.6
Economic Equity

The global clean energy transition creates 65 million fairly distributed new jobs by 2040, outpacing the loss of fossil fuel jobs.

Updated April 2024
Insufficient Progress

13.7 million people employed directly and indirectly

9.1
Batteries

10,000 GWh of batteries are produced annually at less than $80 per kWh by 2035.

Updated April 2024
On Track

Production: 2,592 per GWh

Price: $139 per kWh 

Source: BloombergNEF, 2023

9.2
Electricity

The cost of zero-emissions baseload power is lowered to $0.02 per kWh by 2030.

Updated April 2024
On Track

$0.03 per kWh for utility-scale onshore wind

$0.05 per kWh for utility-scale solar PV

9.3
Green Hydrogen

Cost of producing hydrogen from zero-emissions sources drops to $2 per kg by 2030, $1 per kg by 2040.

Updated April 2024
Failing

$2-$12 per kg, not currently produced at scale

Source: BloombergNEF, 2023

9.4
Carbon Removal

Cost of engineered carbon dioxide removal falls to $100 per ton by 2030, $50 per ton by 2040.

Updated April 2024
Code Red

Average of $715 per ton of carbon removed, not at scale

Source: CDR.fyi, 2024

9.5
Carbon-Neutral Fuels

Cost of synthetic fuel drops to $2.50 per gallon for jet fuel and $3.50 for gasoline by 2035.

Updated April 2024
Failing

Jet Fuel: $2.94 (Traditional) vs. $7.35 (Sustainable)

Vehicle Fuel: $4.02 (Diesel) vs. $4.76 (Biodiesel)

Source: International Air Transport Association, BloombergNEF, and Alternative Fuels Data Center, 2023

Diesel and Biodiesel are U.S. prices

10.1
Financial Incentives

Global government support and incentives for clean energy expand to $600 billion per year.

Updated April 2024
Limited Data

Limited Data

10.2
Government R&D

Public investment in sustainability research and development increases to $120 billion per year.

Updated April 2024
Insufficient Progress

Low carbon R&D globally: $23 billion

10.3
Venture Capital

Private investment into cleantech startups totals $50 billion per year.

Updated April 2024
Achieved

$51 billion invested in climate tech startups

Source: BloombergNEF, 2024

10.4
Project Financing

Clean energy project financing rises to $1 trillion per year.

Updated April 2024
On Track

Clean energy financing is at an all-time high, hitting $743 billion

Source: BloombergNEF, 2024

10.5
Philanthropy

Philanthropic dollars for tackling emissions grow to $30 billion per year.

Updated April 2024
Insufficient Progress

Less than 2% (between $8 billion and $13 billion) of philanthropic giving is dedicated to climate change mitigation

Welcome to Zeroing In by Speed & Scale, where we cut through the noise to deliver a data-driven update on progress toward net zero.

CLIMATE ON THE GLOBAL DOCKET: Over 76 countries—including the United States and India, two of the top five emitters—will hold elections this year. That’s 2 billion people voting. It’s a pivotal moment in the fight against global warming. Elected leaders will confront crucial challenges on climate disclosure, the phasing out of fossil fuels, expanding renewable energy, and lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

Big Picture

HEATING UP IN THE U.S.: With John Kerry, President Joe Biden’s climate envoy, stepping down from his post, the U.S. is losing its most prominent climate figure on the international stage. Kerry had the rare political capital to meet with heads of state and climate policy counterparts alike. His departure may slow the momentum of recent U.S.-China climate agreements. And an even larger potential threat looms: another Donald Trump presidency. During his last term, Trump showed his cards by pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement and casting doubt on mainstream climate science. Kerry calls Biden’s reelection the “single biggest” factor for climate progress this year. Put simply, the stakes in 2024 are high.

Dive deeper into Speed & Scale

OKRs in the News

🚗 1.0 – Electrify Transportation

  • EVs Drive Growth: Despite signs of cooling demand, BMW reports strong orders for EVs. The company’s CEO argues that demand for gas-powered cars peaked last year, and that growth in all-electric models will cover new demand and lead growth for the company.

  • But Not for All: With demand for electric vehicles continuing to weaken, Ford will be making cuts and reducing workforce for its F-150 Lightning truck.

  • Tesla’s Down: Tesla stock fell 10 percent after narrowly missing earnings estimates. The company warned that its growth rate will be “notably lower” this year.

  • GM Invests in South America: General Motors plans to invest $1.4 billion in operations in Brazil over the next five years to accelerate adoption and production of electric vehicles.

  • Toyota’s EV Skepticism: Toyota Motors Chairman, Akio Toyoda, estimated that fully electric cars will win only 30 percent of the market, with the remainder captured by hybrids or vehicles using hydrogen technology.

  • Electric Trucks: The fleet of electric trucks is small but growing, with up to 13,000 on the road this year. Some companies and trucking associations, citing such burdens as upfront vehicle costs and limited charging infrastructure, worry that electrification is happening too fast.


💡 2.0 – Decarbonize the Grid

  • Global Renewable Capacity Grows: Capacity additions increased by almost half to nearly 510 gigawatts in 2023, the fastest growth rate in two decades.

  • U.S. Emissions Down: In 2023, for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, both the U.S. economy and its carbon emissions moved in the right direction, according to an annual estimate by the Rhodium Group. U.S. greenhouse gas pollution fell by 1.9 percent year over year.

  • First Major U.S. Offshore Wind Farm On Line: More than 30 miles out in the Atlantic Ocean, the first colossal steel turbines started spinning at South Fork Wind, turning offshore breezes into electricity that lights homes on Long Island.

  • Biggest U.S. Renewable Energy Project Underway: A major U.S. wind and power transmission project secured $11 billion in funding, but faces difficulties due to sluggish infrastructure timelines and a grid that’s unprepared for surging electricity demand.

  • Record-High Coal Exports: Worldwide electricity generation from coal hit record highs in October 2023, up 1 percent from the same period in 2022. While the world accelerates deployment of renewable energy, it also needs to address its reliance on fossil fuels.

🐄 3.0 – Fix Food

  • Denmark’s Food for the Future: Denmark became the first country to unveil a formal action plan for plant-based foods. It called these vegan foods “the future” and laid out steps to increase both supply and demand.

🌳 4.0 – Protect Nature

  • Drought Affects One Quarter of Humanity: The UN reports that 1.8 billion people worldwide endured drought in 2022 and 2023, with the harm concentrated in low-income countries. The burning of fossil fuels has worsened these conditions. In Syria and Iraq, for example, a three-year drought would have been highly unlikely without climate change.

  • Snow Problem: A new report finds human-caused warming has caused steep declines in the Northern Hemisphere March snowpack. This will hurt spring snow water storage at the hemispheric and river-basin scales, posing risks to water supplies.

🧱 5.0 – Clean Up Industry

  • Cementing a Place in History: A Massachusetts-based startup is making serious strides toward producing the first-ever zero-carbon cement.

  • World’s First Green Steel: A Swedish startup, H2 Green Steel AB, secured its biggest-ever financing package as it proceeds with the world’s first large-scale green steel plant.

  • Decarbonize Cement and Concrete: Ten startups, now the The Decarbonized Cement and Concrete Alliance (DC2), have initiated a unique project to promote the use of cleaner building materials in the U.S. construction market. Their goal is to encourage government policies to support the purchase of low-carbon products for buildings and infrastructure projects.

  • Plastic Bags Bans: A new Op Ed argues that ditching plastic bags brings marginal benefits to the environment at best—and may even be making things worse.

🧹 6.0 – Remove Carbon

  • Carbon Removal at Davos: Carbon removal advocates aim to leverage the World Economic Forum meeting to boost the industry’s visibility, capitalizing on increased interest from corporations and policymakers in deploying removal to address global warming.

🏛️ 7.0 – Win Politics and Policy

  • China’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory: The Chinese government announced plans to create an annual inventory of greenhouse gas emissions, aiming to strengthen carbon trading capabilities and ensure alignment with climate targets. This is part of China’s broader strategy to curb emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

  • Koch Industries’ Comeuppance?: The U.S. Supreme Court will allow Minnesota’s climate deception lawsuit to proceed against ExxonMobil, the American Petroleum Institute, and three Koch Industries entities. They’re accused of defrauding Minnesotans through deceptive portrayals of their products’ impact on climate change.

  • Overturn Chevron: The conservative Supreme Court justices in the majority seem inclined to limit or overturn the 1984 Chevron decision, a move that could change the regulatory environment for the environment, healthcare, and consumer safety. The doctrine requires judges to defer to agencies’ reasonable interpretations of ambiguous statutes.


🏃 8.0 – Turn Movements into Action

  • COP29 Boys’ Club: COP29, set for Azerbaijan this coming November, is already getting flack for its all-male organizing committee, with She Changes Climate and other groups calling for gender parity in governance. By contrast, 63 percent of the members of the COP28 organizing committee were women.

  • School’s in Session: New York may soon join a growing number of states seeking to incorporate climate change into school lesson plans.

  • Exxon Suit: ExxonMobil is suing to halt a vote on a climate resolution by a green activist, a move closely monitored by global fossil fuel companies.

  • Down on ESG: Despite setting net zero targets, eight major asset managers supported fewer than half of all climate-friendly resolutions, exposing a gap between rhetoric and action.

9.0 – Innovate

  • Solar Cell Tech: Tandem solar cell technology—the pairing of new perovskite cells with standard silicon cells—could be critical for expediting the global clean energy transition. Seeing record-breaking efficiencies in power conversion, researchers are urging global leaders to invest in solar cell research and manufacturing.

  • Volcano-Powered Energy: Scientists in Iceland plan to drill into a volcano’s magma chamber to source an abundant amount of clean, super-hot geothermal energy. Iceland is already a leader in deploying geothermal energy, which heats nine of ten homes in the country.

💰 10.0 – Invest

  • Climate Tech Slump: New data from Sightline Climate shows that climate tech companies raised $32 billion in 2023, a 31 percent drop off from the previous year. For the first time since 2020, and in a significant departure from recent trends, there were fewer deals overall.

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