Gartner Research

3 Practical Actions to Address Uncertainties in Pathways for Reducing GHG Emissions

Published: 01 February 2023

Summary

Meeting long-term GHG reduction goals, such as net-zero emissions, relies on managing market decarbonization, innovation availability and financial uncertainties. Executive leaders must respond to these uncertainties to retain stakeholder confidence and avoid claims of greenwashing.

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Overview

Key Findings
  • Assumptions around the future availability of low-carbon energy and the growth rate of low-carbon resources in the energy market are often flawed.

  • Instead of implementing tested solutions, some enterprises may choose to shelve existing low-cost technologies and wait for newer low-carbon technologies to scale. Waiting for new technologies risks greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions goals being missed.

  • Traditional investment measures, such as ROI and net present value (NPV), deprioritize funding of projects with undervalued, longer paybacks. Relying on these measures to shape the valuation statement can result in significant delays in meeting GHG emissions reduction targets.

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