COP30 – Technology, Transition and Trust: the role of trade and international cooperation for just and equitable industrial decarbonization

Context

Heavy industry (e.g., steel, cement) accounts for about a quarter of global CO₂ emissions and requires diffusion and massive scaling of clean technologies—including hydrogen-based steelmaking and carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS)—to reach net zero. Yet in many emerging and developing economies, deployment is held back by high costs of technology and capital, policy and financing challenges, and the need to adapt technologies to local production processes while building capacity and skills for endogenous technology development. 

Objectives of the Session 

This session will examine how trade policy and international cooperation can deliver technology where it is needed by leveraging trade in environmental goods and services, enabling Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and licensing models (such as patent pools, shared IPR and co-development, off-patent use, and concessional licensing), and strengthening investment partnerships and finance mechanisms (including concessional financing, public–private partnerships, and cooperation through Article 6 of the Paris Agreement).  

Panellists will discuss strategies to overcome cost barriers, enable technology adaptation and maintenance, and expand participation of developing countries in low-carbon industrial value chains, creating the conditions for an equitable and competitive transition. 

Expected Outcomes

• Better understanding of how trade and international cooperation mechanisms can support industrial decarbonization. 

• Insights into technology co-development, intellectual property, and financing models that accelerate clean technology diffusion. 

• Identification of policy levers to enhance developing countries’ participation in low-carbon industrial value chains. 

• Actionable recommendations for public-private and intergovernmental collaboration to deliver equitable access to climate technologies.