Emerging leaders explore innovative solutions driving a low-carbon future for heavy industry

Emerging Leaders from across GIIA membership gathered for an evening of insight and networking as we joined our hosts, Macquarie Group, to explore the innovative solutions that are helping to decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors.

This session brought together Emerging Leaders to network with peers across the infrastructure investment industry, and hear from a panel of expert speakers to discover how investors are driving low-carbon solutions in a sector that is, by definition, difficult to decarbonise, but is responsible for 20% of emissions globally.

In a session chaired by Raphaelle Johnston, Market Analyst for Macquarie's Climate Intelligence Unit, expert speakers Devin Blondes, Senior Vice President for Macquarie Asset Management Green Investments, and Gurjit Orjela, Senior Vice President at Macquarie Asset Management, gave their insight into the role of finance in helping hard-to-abate sectors meet ambitious net zero goals.

Key takeaways from the panel include:

• The decarbonisation of hard-to-abate industries has rapidly grown to become a global priority if we’re to reach net zero targets set by governments in line with the Paris Agreement
• Having seen the energy sector successfully decarbonise at scale over the past twenty years, investors are now increasingly looking to apply these learnings to finance development platforms and drive innovation across traditionally carbon-intensive industries
• Clean fuels are a top priority for the aviation industry, and despite SAF (sustainable aviation fuel) adoption still in early stages, leading operators in the sector are finding mandates from regulators in regions like Europe are driving investor confidence in projects
• New ways of thinking can yield impressive results – with financing empowering companies to commit to innovative production processes to produce green steel with 95% fewer CO2 emissions than historic methods
• Seeding finance from corporate industry plays a huge role in de-risking opportunities in new and emergent technology development, with collaborative financing models building investor confidence to help drive development of crucial innovations and scale up nascent technologies.

Thank you to our event host and sponsor Macquarie Group, and our expert panellists for their insight into such a pivotal topic for the infrastructure industry.