The Breakthrough Agenda Report 2022 is a new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions, focused on supporting stronger international collaboration to drive faster reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions. Without international cooperation, the crucial global transition to net zero emissions could be delayed by decades. The faster the transition advances, the faster it will deliver clean technologies at lower cost, making them available for all. This is all the more urgent in the context of recent sharp spikes in energy and food prices around the world. 

This inaugural report assesses progress on reducing emissions in five key sectors – power, hydrogen, road transport, steel and agriculture. The authors make recommendations to strengthen collaboration between governments, business and civil society in areas such as common standards, technology R&D, reaching a level playing field for trade, and improving technical and financial assistance.

This is a first-of-its-kind annual progress report, requested by world leaders at the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in November 2021 as part of the launch of the Breakthrough Agenda. The Breakthrough Agenda currently covers more than two-thirds of the global economy, with endorsement from 45 world leaders, including those of the G7, China and India. The report is designed to inform policy makers, business leaders and civil society organisations of the most urgent ways to strengthen collaboration in and across major emitting sectors ahead of the Global Clean Energy Action Forum in Pittsburgh in September 2022, the next UN Climate Change Conference COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, and beyond.

The report puts forward 25 recommendations for leaders to discuss at the Global Clean Energy Action Forum and the 13th Clean Energy Ministerial to be held in Pittsburgh, United States, from 21-23 September 2022.

These include:

• Demonstrate and test flexible low-carbon power systems to expand the range of solutions and increase the share of variable renewables
• Create new cross-border supergrids this decade to increase trade in low-carbon power, reduce emissions, improve energy security and enhance system flexibility
• Set up new international centres of expertise to channel finance and technical assistance to help coal-producing countries’ transition
• Agree a common definition and target dates by which all new road vehicles will be net zero, targeting 2035 for cars and vans and the 2040s for heavy duty vehicles
• Mobilise investment in charging infrastructure, including prioritised assistance for developing countries and harmonise international charging standards to drive investment and accelerate adoption globally
• Standards to boost the recyclability of batteries and supercharging research into alternative chemistries for batteries to reduce reliance on precious metals, such as cobalt and lithium
• Government policies and private-sector purchase commitments to drive demand and deployment of low-carbon and renewable hydrogen alongside standards to enable global trade
• Public and private commitments to purchase near-zero emission steel, and actions to level the playing field between steel producing nations
• Investment for agriculture technologies and farming practices that can cut emissions from livestock and fertilisers, expand availability of alternative proteins and accelerate the development of climate resilient crops
• International standards for monitoring and reporting on the state of natural resources on which agriculture depends, covering soil health, soil carbon content, and pollinator health

Source: IEA