MPP Launches Transition Strategies to Decarbonize Transportation 

Dozens of companies from the aviation, trucking, and shipping sectors have signed onto strategic transition strategies that provide a clear path to reach net-zero by 2050. Following up on the Mission Possible Partnership’s major launch at COP26, aviation and trucking join the shipping sector in detailing real economy milestones for not just 2050, but also for the near-term.  

These reports join a series of sector transition strategies that MPP is developing. Of the seven harder-to-abate sectors MPP is addressing, three are from the mobility sector: aviation, shipping, and trucking. Together representing ~10% of global GHG emissions, they share multiple common characteristics, with high expected demand growth rates, expensive long-life assets and significant demands on new energy systems. 

Outlined in these reports are the challenges these sectors face and their transition pathways, including cross sectoral insights in the modelling (e.g. bio mass availability across sectors and impact on renewable electricity generation). Based on these strategy reports, MPP seeks to kick off real-world projects to translate global strategy thinking into real cross-value chain actions. 

Matt Rogers, CEO of MPP said: “These transition strategies demonstrate real and practical advances. We know how to decarbonize the mobility sector, and we’re measuring progress against real economy milestones both for the near-term and to 2050. Our plans are operationally relevant, not pie-in-the-sky or wishful thinking.”  

Key takeaways from each of the sectors include: 

Aviation 

Endorsed by major global aviation leaders including Airbus, American Airlines, and Air France-KLM, bp, easyjet, and Shell, MPP’s Aviation Transition Strategy provides a shared vision for the industry’s low-carbon future, detailing real economy milestones detailing industry, policy and finance action required to get to net zero on a 1.5°C-alinged pathway. It outlines, for instance, that 10–15% of the final jet fuel demand need to come from SAFs (Sustainable Aviation Fuels) by 2030 in order to kick off the transition to net-zero in the 2030s and 2040s – requiring a ramp-up of the current SAF project pipeline by a factor of 5–6 by 2030.   

Trucking 

With trucking demand surging globally, a swift, decisive move to zero-emissions trucks and a rapid rollout of infrastructure are needed to achieve net zero by 2050. Endorsed by major global corporate leaders in sustainable transport, including ABB, DP DHL and IKEA Supply, MPP’s Trucking Transition Strategy models pathways to the transition and elaborates the need for coordinated action and smart policy to support the entire value-chain in overcoming the near-term challenges facing the uptake of zero-emissions trucks and associated infrastructure to keep us on track. With trucking demand in China, Europe, India, and the United States expected to more than double by 2050, MPP forecasts a need for ~ten million zero emissions trucks by 2030 with between 1.8-2.5 million EV chargers and between 1,000-19,000 hydrogen stations. 

Shipping 

First published in October 2021, a shipping Transition Strategy from the MPP-supported Getting to Zero Coalition a partnership between the World Economic Forum and the Global Maritime Forum, and prepared by the University Maritime Advisory Services (UMAS), has relaunched as Making Zero-Emissions Shipping possible: An industry-backed Transition Strategy (The re-release of A Strategy for the Transition to Zero-Emission Shipping). This report shows the opportunity created by shipping’s need for scalable zero-emission fuels and details how a robust future demand from shipping can de-risk business cases for land-side production of green hydrogen that can serve multiple industries. The Strategy provides new insights into the essential elements of such a transition: the political, technical, economic, and commercial requirements, and the actions needed from the sector to deliver on them. The Getting to Zero Coalition is a partnership between the Global Maritime Forum and the World Economic Forum. 

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