If you’ve been following the climate headlines, you know that climate news is tough. The plan we are working on will not meet the required targets. We are reducing emissions but not making rapid progress. Experts agree: Our current promise is to keep the rise at 2.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century, a change that will exacerbate the climate catastrophe we are already experiencing.
Only urgent action can help us reverse the trend. The good news is that for the first time in history, humanity has reason to feel optimistic about our capacity to change course for the better.
Ready for progress
There has never been a time in history when humanity has been in a better position to ultimately reduce the damage it is causing to the climate. Since the beginning of industrialization 230 years ago, humans have released more than 2 trillion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. During that time, we either don’t understand or refuse to accept the impact on this warming planet.
However, in recent years, a critical shift has occurred. Today, in the climate science community, 97% agree that humans are causing global warming—a consensus that is not always given. Around the world, public confidence in climate science is on the rise. We don’t need to waste time debating whether there is a crisis.
As a result, we are free to build solutions. Today, technology is changing our lives at shorter and shorter intervals—and the engineers and leaders who master these changes are more likely to understand the importance of prioritizing the health of our planet.
There are more engineers and scientists today than at any other time in history, with expertise distributed around the world. And with continued advances in AI, computing capacity, sensors, and other capabilities, they have powerful tools to develop new technologies and improve the efficiency of existing systems. These technologists and executives (specializing in everything from AI to satellites) have the knowledge and motivation to further reduce emissions and develop clean energy solutions.
The combination of will and method can be powerful—and we’ve seen the potential. In the 1990s and 2000s, as the climate crisis deepened, a new focus emerged on renewable energy sources, including solar and wind, which paved the way for technological advances, better manufacturing, and special subsidies that reduced barriers. to enter. Solutions like solar photovoltaics and onshore wind power are becoming scalable, accessible, and affordable (with costs dropping 82% and 39% over the last decade, respectively).
In the coming years, we can expect more advanced energy systems to advance as the cost of new renewable energy increases faster. By 2027, the International Energy Agency predicts a growth of 2,400 GW in renewable power capacity – an 85% acceleration from five years ago. This expansion is expected to create a diverse energy mix, with low carbon systems such as solar, wind, biomass, nuclear, and hydrogen providing clean and safe energy.
A paradigm shift
Leaders must build momentum by taking the first steps to explore and implement new technologies. They need to explore the edges of the business to transform the core. This requires three major changes:
- Mind. Leaders can only build for the future they can imagine. They need to reset their understanding of what is currently possible, the speed at which progress is being made, and how costs will evolve. Leaders don’t need to look for the moon–we have the technology we need to get ahead.
- practice. Today’s business landscape is optimized for a world that was not designed to support—one that was built to reward old practices. The decades-old investment criteria designed for extractive industries must be updated to scale the new generation of sustainable technologies.
- Systems perspective. A new mindset and a new set of behaviors can be transformational as leaders operate with a systems approach. They must create new partnerships inside and outside the organization and create new business models that shape entire sectors and value chains.
Businesses that make these important changes can capitalize on the huge opportunities we have today to continue the energy transition.
For example, advanced renewable energy such as hydrogen has clear potential. Hydrogen only produces water as a by-product (unlike fossil fuels which produce a lot of pollutants, including carbon dioxide) and its use has increased due to increasing public and private investment. While the use of low-emission hydrogen remains low, demand is growing – especially in areas where it is difficult to reduce such as shipping, aviation, and heavy industry.
In India, three of the industry’s biggest players are actively pursuing hydrogen, showing what could happen next. Last year, the Indian subsidiary of Reliance Industries, announced a partnership with Danish energy company Stiesdal to produce hydrogen more cheaply through electrolysis technology.
With that partnership, it’s out of the question when but more by how much The company will place a cost curve for both electrolyzers and hydrogen production.
Of course, scaling hydrogen will not be easy. Using it to power a ship or heat a house requires a massive amount of fuel which, as some experts have pointed out, is only as clean as the method that produces it.
No aspect of the energy transition is without challenges: Electrification requires thinking outside the box and batteries require unprecedented improvements in how we manage the world’s supply of rare earths.
Every low- and zero-carbon energy solution implemented requires major changes—from innovative financing models to a new regulatory environment that supports changes in the way economic sectors operate.
History also gives us a picture of what lies ahead: New efficiencies will emerge with new technologies and processes faster. And while complications won’t go away, a core commitment to new mindsets, practices, and systems of thinking will help us maintain momentum.
Leaders, technologists, and policymakers have something to do quickly and address some of the climate challenges. It’s time we truly tackle the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced.
Jeremy Jurgens is the managing director of the World Economic Forum. This article is part of World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023.
Opinions expressed in Fortune.com comment pieces are solely the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect their opinions and beliefs. fortune.
Another must-read comment published by fortune:
Learn how to navigate and strengthen trust in your business with The Trust Factor, a weekly newsletter that examines what leaders need to succeed. Log in here.