The global push for decarbonisation has demonstrated remarkable resilience and enduring broad support, surviving a year marked by significant geopolitical and economic turbulence, including the disruption caused by the US withdrawal from major climate talks. As Pim Valdre, Head of Climate and Nature Economy at the World Economic Forum (WEF), explains, the contemporary energy transition is now built upon a foundation far more robust and diverse than the actions of any single nation. Advances in technology, rapidly falling costs, and surging global demand are driving a systemic shift towards electrification and renewables across both advanced and emerging economies, fueling optimism for the upcoming COP30.

Resilience and Reorientation After US Climate Withdrawal

The US announcement of withdrawal from the Paris Agreement did indeed cause international reflection on the future of global climate collaboration, but it ultimately served as a demonstration of the resilience of global climate action. Rather than collapsing, the broad support for decarbonisation endured, driven by an increasingly diverse coalition spanning businesses, governments, and civil society.

This resilience is economically quantifiable. Over 100 countries have successfully reduced their reliance on fossil-fuel imports as renewables have become drastically more competitive, leading to an estimated $1.3 trillion in cumulative savings since 2010. The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects a swift acceleration of this trend throughout the current decade. Across sectors—from energy and technology to heavy industry—companies have maintained, and in some cases, even increased their climate ambitions, setting tougher emissions targets and aggressively investing in both innovation and transparency.

Business initiatives are playing a highly influential role. The WEF’s Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, for example, collectively reduced their aggregate absolute emissions by 12% between 2019 and 2023, even while their revenues grew by 20% in the same period. This compelling statistic demonstrates that effective decarbonisation is not at odds with strong economic performance. International cooperation, facilitated by various knowledge-sharing platforms, has thus made the low-carbon transition a “hallmark of broad-based economic progress” rather than the burden of any one country.

Navigating Trade Tensions and Tariff Policies

The global clean technology landscape is undeniably complicated by trade tensions, disruptive tariffs, and regulatory fragmentation. These factors have strained global supply chains, escalated costs, and exposed sectors reliant on critical minerals to new risks. However, these very pressures are also catalyzing a strategic shift in thinking across industry and government.

Instead of retreating, several economies have responded by significantly accelerating investment in domestic clean-tech capacity. The US, for instance, is seeing a rapid expansion of clean-tech manufacturing, coupled with a renewed focus on securing critical-mineral supplies. Latin America has introduced new frameworks to govern responsible mining. Regionally, in Asia-Pacific, ambitious projects like the Asean Power Grid and the rise of cross-border green hydrogen initiatives are emerging as robust regional alternatives to the volatility of global markets.

Collaborative mechanisms further reinforce this progress. The WEF’s First Movers Coalition helps aggregate global demand, creating a vital market signal for green technologies, while corporate efforts in circular supply chains and battery recycling are rapidly becoming mainstream. While uncertainty remains a strategic challenge, it has spurred the emergence of vital new alliances and resilient regional value chains, ensuring the momentum for green growth persists.

The Foundation of Investment and Innovation

The integration of clean technologies, electrification, and renewables is now fundamentally reshaping the industrial landscape. In a landmark achievement, global clean energy investment exceeded $2 trillion in 2024—a figure $800 billion greater than investment in fossil fuels. Renewables have firmly established themselves as the world’s primary source for new electricity generation.

Industry leaders are adopting advanced grid management and digital optimization, frequently leveraging AI and data analytics in partnership with others. In the challenging “harder-to-abate” sectors, the WEF’s Transitioning Industrial Clusters initiative is fostering collaborative regional approaches to developing hydrogen and green steel, from Europe to India. The overarching trend is that pragmatic alliances and technological insights are now central to the green transition, with scaling achieved through the combined efforts of investors, policymakers, and strong firm-level leadership.

India’s Complex Path to Net Zero

India’s corporate climate landscape presents a mix of strong momentum and considerable complexity. Approximately 130 Indian firms have validated net-zero targets under the Science Based Targets initiative, reflecting the global trend of major corporations aligning with climate goals. However, progress is uneven: capital-intensive and technically challenging sectors like power, cement, and materials lag behind, with only one in ten firms in these areas committing to net zero.

Despite the hurdles, several Indian companies have quietly assumed leadership roles. Companies like Tata Steel and Mahindra, both involved in global CEO alliances, are actively working on reducing Scope 3 emissions by engaging with suppliers, procuring renewables, and implementing more sustainable supply chain management. Their focused investments in energy efficiency, electrification, and green fuels position them as pioneers within the hard-to-abate sectors. Similarly, ReNew, a major decarbonisation solutions provider, has maintained carbon neutrality for its direct operations for two consecutive years. These efforts demonstrate that while the journey to net zero is complex, strategic investments, cross-sector alliances, and relentless innovation are creating a pragmatic, scalable model for progress across Indian industry.

Stability of the Energy Transition

While energy policy decisions in major economies inevitably influence global markets, the fundamental strength of the energy transition makes it increasingly resilient to the short-term political fluctuations of any single nation—even in the face of a political push towards fossil fuels. The enduring rise of renewables, electrification, and emissions reduction is underpinned by falling technology costs and robust demand signals from private investors and consumers alike.

The sustained reinforcement from coalitions of businesses, investors, and policymakers acts as a powerful counterbalance. The fact that investment in renewables and battery storage now significantly surpasses spending on new fossil fuel infrastructure underscores this system-wide resilience. Long-term investment cycles and diverse energy portfolios insulate the system from instability. The net-zero transition is thus proceeding across most regions, buoyed by regional leadership and a proliferation of in-country and transboundary partnerships, confirming that progress toward a cleaner system is now a shared international project.

The Impact of the AI Data Centre Boom

The rapid expansion of AI data centers presents a new challenge, as they are projected to account for about 10% of global power demand growth by 2030. This growth necessitates a strategic reconciliation between burgeoning digital infrastructure and pressing climate goals.

The industry’s primary response is a massive investment in renewable energy supplies and the use of AI-powered grid optimization, often in collaboration with utilities and national governments. Public-private partnerships are accelerating efforts to decarbonize the energy supply, including joint investments in advanced nuclear, large-scale solar, and critical grid-balancing technologies. Furthermore, industry standards are emerging to promote transparency in real-time energy use and data-sharing. If carefully managed, the AI and digital infrastructure boom could paradoxically become a proving ground for achieving deeper grid flexibility and accelerating overall decarbonisation, provided that strategies for integrating nature and climate considerations are embedded from the initial stages of business planning.