ESG Series: 2024 considerations

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Executive summary│2024 considerations – climate

(part 1 of 3)

An affordable, secure and sustainable path to net zero

 

 

 

 

 

Key climate themes for 2024

 

 

 

• The net zero transition is too often regarded as a singular challenge – reducing emissions from energy, materials and other systems. In reality, it consists of three objectives – emissions reduction, keeping prices affordable and ensuring the security of supply. If achieving the first of those objectives risks compromising the other two, momentum towards net zero could be derailed.
• At the heart of this energy trilemma of (i) affordability; (ii) security; and (iii) sustainability, in harnessing a just, and orderly transition to net zero, sits the climate change paradox (see here). That is, the current pace of renewable energy infrastructure investment is “too slow” for the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement to be met, and if those goals continue falling short, then current investment in fossil fuel infrastructure is “too low” to make up the shortfall.

 

In this report, we offer our clients an examination of the key climate themes for 2024:

• COP29 – November 2024 in Azerbaijan
• Politics – election bonanza to (re)define climate aspiration and action
• Aspirations – climate pledges
• Regulations – climate disclosures and taxonomies
• Scope 3 – value chain emissions and greenwashing
• Carbon markets – scaling up coverage
• CCUS – anticipation and actuality
• Just transition – comprehending credibility
• Climate litigation – setting precedents
• Significance of science – aligning ambition