Shipping Creating green shipping corridors by identifying optimal cargo routes based on volume and feasibility; analyzing the most viable types of green fuel; and outlining infrastructure requirements, such as fuel availability in a port

Construction Rationalizing supplier ecosystems for the steel industry to provide construction firms—which are the largest consumers of steel for commercial buildings and infrastructure projects—with easier ways to switch to green steel

Transportation Developing transition strategies that use technologies such as sustainable fuels and novel propulsion systems for aviation and, in long-haul trucking, strategies to scale up electric or hydrogen alternatives

Shipping

Construction

Transportation

Executives and boards will want to take a crash course in climate science and economics (if they haven’t already) as they build into their business strategy a plan for reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

As investors set the rules for judging companies’ net-zero plans, executives can help investors understand a company’s rationale for approaching the transition, as well as the actions and investments the company is pursuing.

For innovation challenges that seem too expensive or risky for companies to take on independently, companies can look to form or join an innovation ecosystem of peers, academic institutions, and investors.

Next-gen climate tech will widen the range of strategic moves, even as business-model breakthroughs enable new approaches such as parametric pricing in insurance, which makes climate risk more insurable by paying out a set amount based on the magnitude of the event rather than the magnitude of the loss.

A climate-optimized business strategy requires retiring and repurposing carbon-intensive assets. But building new low-carbon businesses, pursuing M&A, and scaling up nature-based solutions such as reforestation may prove all the more important.