Strategies for achieving net-zero emissions

Net-zero by mid-century isn’t an easy feat. And if your tool is only a hammer, there’s no chance of getting close, including at the EU level.

A recent study looks at what it takes to achieve the EU’s net-zero target by 2050. There’s no secret tool, other than an assemblage of regulatory and market mechanisms to shift policy, technology, and social behaviors toward the EU-aligned decarbonization pathway.

The data suggests that relying solely on market adjustments, like carbon pricing which could rise above 450 €/tCO2 by 2030, places a heavy financial burden without adequate technological backing.

An interesting takeaway is the role of carbon removal and CCS. Integrating CCS and carbon removal naturally reduces the total volume of emissions. Scenarios with aggressive CCS deployment showed a drop in the dependency on offset prices and mitigated the economic impact of transitioning industries.

In other words, the bill for those industries will reduce if the infrastructure designed to accelerate decarbonization is deployed at a meaningful speed and scale.