Turning the moment into momentum

Scaling a just and resilient industry transition in turbulent times

Context

In his 22 July 2025 address, the United Nations’ Secretary-General warned that the world is at a crossroads: “Either we accelerate the transition to a clean, just, and resilient economy — or we accelerate towards crisis.”

For heavy industry – including steel, cement, transport, and their value chains – this is not a distant choice. These sectors are simultaneously facing decarbonization breakthroughs and acute geopolitical challenges:

• Low-carbon production methods are achieving commercial viability.

• Clean energy and industrial policy are now often tied to national security and competitiveness.

• Global trade in critical minerals and industrial products is under strain from fragmentation and uncertain trade conditions.

While technical progress is rapid, deployment remains slow, geographically uneven, and socially fragile. The biggest gaps are a trust deficit between governments and companies across regions and insufficient flows of finance to unlock accelerated decarbonization at scale. This is most pertinent for emerging markets where industrial growth and decarbonization must advance together.

This official Climate Week New York event will confront two intertwined challenges to unlocking this opportunity:

1. Maintaining cooperation in an era of geopolitical division to ensure the transition is truly just and resilient.
2. Scaling finance and policy to accelerate the industrial transition.

Session objectives

During the session, participants will:

• Share specific examples of industrial decarbonisation efforts that have scaled, with lessons for replication in diverse contexts.
• Identify policy priorities and finance measures to accelerate investment in heavy industry transition, especially in emerging markets.
• Explore practical ways to maintain cooperation across borders and sectors despite geopolitical uncertainty.
• Use the discussions as an input to the COP30 presidency’s Global Climate Action Agenda process.