Analysis shows strong advances in innovation and investment, and much work to do to phase out fossil fuels
Earth Day—Speed & Scale, a climate action platform founded by venture capitalist and author John Doerr, today released its first global tracker update on progress toward net zero emissions by 2050. The data-driven analysis tracks performance against 10 objectives and related milestones, or “key results,” to show where the world is making headway and where it’s lagging. The results underscore a call to decision-makers to accelerate the transition to clean energy and limit global warming.
“Don’t let anyone tell you the climate crisis is unsolvable. Within this update is a story of hope and progress, and also a stark reminder of all the work that remains to be done in a very short time,” said John Doerr, who authored Speed & Scale and created its corollary action plan in 2021. “A global challenge requires global cooperation; we need leaders working together in the halls of government, in workplaces and boardrooms, and in every one of our communities.”
The Speed & Scale global tracker update reveals evidence that the world can transition to a clean energy future. It also points to a tremendous economic opportunity. The countries and companies that act most ambitiously will gain a competitive edge–because the clean industries of the future will soon be the industries of the future, full stop.
EVs surge: The best news in climate is cars. In just four years, the global market share for electric vehicles jumped 6x, to 18 percent.
Renewables take charge: With costs of solar and wind plunging to historic lows, new deployment of renewables increased by nearly 50 percent in 2023. The clean choice is fast becoming the cheaper choice.
Cleantech innovation funding explodes: Venture capital—a prime driver of cleantech innovation—has exceeded $50 billion for each of the last three years, up from $17 billion in 2020.
The bigger picture on climate is more uneven. Of the 49 key results in the Speed & Scale plan, 39 are behind schedule.
Industry is still dirty: Hard-to-abate categories, notably steel and cement, remain carbon-intensive. In 2022, near-zero-emissions steel and cement accounted for less than 1 percent of their respective markets. The potential annual emissions cut payoff is massive–3 gigatons for steel, 2 gigatons for cement.
Food has yet to be fixed: Today’s plant-based substitutes haven’t yet hit the mark. In a category where more funds are sorely needed, investment in clean food tech has dropped nearly 80 percent over the last two years.
Early days for carbon removal: Speed & Scale’s 2030 target for engineered carbon removal is one billion tons; to date, the world’s cumulative removal efforts amount to barely 200,000 tons. Governments and businesses are aiming to catalyze this market with early purchasing.
As the tracker illustrates, scaling innovation and investment alone will not be enough. The world needs to sunset the carbon era and retire fossil fuels. Speed & Scale urges world leaders to enact stricter emissions standards, end explicit subsidies for fossil fuels, set a meaningful price on carbon, and curb leaks of heat-trapping methane.
“The next steps are clear,” said Ryan Panchadsaram, co-author of Speed & Scale. “We need to tackle both sides of the equation by going after fossil fuels while scaling clean alternatives. We’ve made progress on renewables and cleantech, but it’s time to get serious about phasing out dirty energy.”
Ahead of the decisive COP30 global climate conference in 2025, countries have the opportunity to strengthen their climate commitments. Speed & Scale’s goal is to inject urgency and ambition into leaders’ actions, accelerating the transition to a clean energy future.
The interactive tracker update is a free tool that can be accessed at speedandscale.com/tracker. Please contact press@speedandscale.com for more information or to schedule an interview with a member of the Speed & Scale team.
About Speed & Scale
Speed & Scale launched in 2021 with a bestselling book co-authored by legendary venture capitalist John Doerr and Ryan Panchadsaram, former Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United States. As an initiative to move leaders to act on the climate crisis, Speed & Scale has been hailed by such visionaries as former Vice President Al Gore, Bill Gates, and Christiana Figueres. The 2024 tracker update marks the first update of the original 2021 action plan.
About John Doerr
John is an engineer, venture capitalist, and the chair of Kleiner Perkins. He is the author of bestsellers Measure What Matters and Speed and Scale: An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now. For over 40 years, John has served entrepreneurs with ingenuity and optimism, helping them build bold teams and disruptive companies. He was an original investor and board member at Google and Amazon and has helped to create more than a million jobs. A pioneer of Silicon Valley’s cleantech movement, he has invested in zero-emissions technologies since 2006. In 2022, John and his wife Ann collaborated with Stanford University to launch its first new school in 70 years: The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.