Bipartisan Policy Center forms Net Zero Business Alliance to cut emissions by 2050

Published on February 19, 2021 by Chris Galford


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Pulling together companies from various sectors of U.S. industry, the Bipartisan Policy Center assembled the Net Zero Business Alliance (NZBA) this week, with the stated goal of promoting decarbonization of the economy by 2050.

Founding companies include Southern Company, Occidental Petroleum, Tyson Foods, United Airlines, and Weyerhaeuser, representing a wide selection of industries. Additional members are being signed up as well. Together, the Bipartisan Policy Center believes, the difficult task of confronting an urgent global demand can become more realistic, given the scope of policies required for success at both the public and private levels.

“The power sector is leading the way toward the ambitious but achievable goal of net-zero emissions,” Tom Fanning, CEO of Southern Company, said. “To realize this shared goal, industry leaders and policymakers must work together to dramatically expand technology innovation, accelerate new energy infrastructure, and ensure all Americans can share in the benefits of a clean-energy economy.”

In a statement, the Alliance noted that the transition to a net-zero economy will require major adjustments in approach, from new investments in advanced energy technologies to carbon removal efforts, new business models, and more. Not all businesses are yet in the same position to make a net-zero commitment, and public and private sectors will have to collaborate to develop the solutions and policies that make the transition possible.

“We are delighted to be a founding member of the Net Zero Business Alliance and leverage our 40 years of carbon management expertise to enable our collective pathway to net-zero,” Vicki Hollub, president and CEO of Occidental, said. “Public and private collaboration is essential to the successful commercial-scale deployment of decarbonization technologies and investment in supporting infrastructure to expedite the energy transition.”

The country will have to move at a scale and speed unprecedented in industrial transformation, the Bipartisan Policy Center announced.

The public and private sectors must actively collaborate on developing carbon solutions and new government policies that enable the transition to occur at a scale and speed, unlike any prior industrial transformation. Substantial increases will be required for public and private investments in all forms of low-carbon energy innovations, commercialization, and at scale building of technologies will have to ratchet up significantly and new, ever more stable, and effective means of removing carbon from the atmosphere.

“Getting major industries to achieve net-zero greenhouse emissions by midcentury will require resolving important technical, commercial, and political challenges,” Sasha Mackler, director of BPC’s energy project, said. “The Net Zero Business Alliance is bringing together prominent business leaders who will offer an affirmative, pragmatic voice to the urgent climate solutions debate.”