The U.S. State Department has announced the launch of First Movers Coalition, a newly created platform that makes it easier for companies to harness their purchasing power and supply chains as they seek to create markets aimed at innovative, clean energy technologies that many perceive as critical to gaining control in the ongoing climate crisis.
With First Movers being created through a partnership between the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, the Office of Global Partnership and the World Economic Forum, President Joe Biden made the alliance official with an announcement at the recent 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). The groups also collaborated with the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Energy to facilitate the agreement.
The State Department reported upwards of 25 top companies from an assortment of industries around the globe “made commitments to spur the commercialization of emerging technologies in this decade.”
First Movers revolves around “assembling ambitious corporate purchasing pledges across sectors that represent more than a third of global carbon emissions and span heavy industry and long-distance transportation," the State Department said.
As it is, State officials contend the technologies needed to decarbonize many of the “hard to abate” sectors are not yet commercially available or competitive but are known to be essential going forward in bringing about the level of net-zero emissions economywide that are being sought over the next two decades.
“The First Movers Coalition is a platform for the world’s leading global companies to make purchasing commitments to create early markets for critical technologies needed to achieve net-zero by 2050," U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry said. "In this critical decade, we not only need to deploy as rapidly as possible existing clean energy technologies, such as wind turbines, solar panels, and battery storage, but also drive innovation for our long-term decarbonization goals.”
The International Energy Agency forecasts that in the neighborhood of half of the emissions reductions needed to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 must come from technologies that are not currently ready for commercial markets with First Movers Coalition focusing on increasing innovation in eight sectors where these technology needs are concentrated: steel, trucking, shipping, aviation, cement, aluminum, chemicals and direct air capture.
