The Pathway to Net Zero

The above infographic simplifies and maps the UK’s pathway to net zero for the next three decades, showing the breadth and depth of opportunity available in the net zero economy for entrepreneurs.

Corporates need help 

Collectively over 900 corporates in industries including manufacturing, banking, construction, retail and transport have adopted Science Based Targets, including several hundred who have adopted net zero pledges. The history of business tells us that it is not going to be possible for these corporates alone to make the change and transition necessary to deliver this pledge. Many of the innovations will come from entrepreneurs, building new value propositions and processes for customers and new business models which replace carbon-intensive ways of doing business and deliver the foundations for the pathway to net zero.   

It is these net zero pledges and their equivalents which are already driving corporates to invest and work with startups.  

Now, you may think that unless you’re a petrochemical engineer that your career isn’t suited to this mission of reducing our carbon impact on the world, but there are huge opportunities in just about every industry. Our infographic, is inspired by the Committee on Climate Change’s work to maps our path to net-zero. It includes the opportunities for entrepreneurs in a wealth of industries and specific examples of where innovation is needed.  

Want more inspiration? 

To better understand the types of startups already working on the path to net zero: 

Agriculture – developing new practices for industrial farming to adopt:

See: The Small Robot Company

Construction – maximising new technologies when developing buildings:

 See:Vizcab; Kenoteq

 Energy – finding new ways to power the world:

See: Sympower; Zolar 

Finance – leveraging opportunities from the green industrial revolution:

See: kWh Analytics

Retail – changing the landscape of how we consume:

See: Refurbed, CO2OK 

Telecoms – developing infrastructure compatible with climate change solutions:

See: Omniflow  

Transport – continuing our mobility, without the climate implications:

See: Northvolt; Zeleros  

COP26 + Covid-19 means now is the opportunity for entrepreneurs 

Next year the UK will host the UN Climate Summit, COP26. As a nation, we were the first major economy to pass a net zero emissions law but it will take a collective and collaborative effort from all industries globally to deliver the new landscape of business that’s compatible with our continued existence on Earth.   

The unprecedented circumstances Covid-19 has left us with means that we are now able to see that changes we may have thought people and corporates were not willing to make, will be made, if they are given the right incentive. The same goes for aspiring entrepreneurs. If you’re looking to take your skills and network and adapt them to creating a venture to attack the climate emergency, then Carbon13 exists to support you on this journey.