Corporate Action on Climate Change

Technology and Innovation

Technology Working Groups

C2ES technology working groups focus on four critical-path technologies: engineered carbon removal, sustainable aviation fuel, long-duration energy storage, and clean hydrogen. These technology working groups convene corporate incumbents, financiers, innovators, policymakers, and other key stakeholders to discuss the technical, market, and policy solutions needed to rapidly scale these technologies. Technology working group convenings inform and generate a broad base of support behind C2ES’s thought leadership and policy recommendations for the relevant technologies. The swift commercialization of innovative technologies and low- to zero-carbon fuels is crucial to meet our long-term climate goals. The technology working groups align a coalition of innovators and leading companies with the market and policy solutions needed to accelerate technological commercial readiness.

Renewable Thermal Collaborative

The Renewable Thermal Collaborative (RTC), co-convened by C2ES, David Gardiner and Associates, and the World Wildlife Fund, works to scale up renewable heating and cooling solutions in response to the industrial sector’s growing thermal energy demand, with a goal of full sector decarbonization by 2050. As a coalition, the RTC mobilizes institutions, governments, corporate buyers, and solution developers to collaboratively identify market barriers and establish policy support for the deployment of cost-competitive renewable thermal technologies. C2ES supports the policy work and technology initiatives of the Renewable Thermal Collaborative, advocating for policies to accelerate renewable thermal solutions.

Energy Research (Closer Looks)

Over the past several years, through the Climate Innovation 2050 initiative, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions has engaged closely with leading companies across diverse sectors to examine challenges and solutions to decarbonizing the U.S. economy by 2050. To inform policymakers considering these near- and long-term questions, C2ES launched a series of “Closer Look” briefs to investigate important facets of the decarbonization challenge, focusing on key technologies, critical policy instruments, and cross-sectoral challenges. These briefs explore policy implications and outline key steps needed to reach net zero by mid-century.

Market-Based Mechanisms

C2ES plays key roles in several initiatives to accelerate corporate climate action. As a member of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM), we help establish standards for high-integrity carbon credits. C2ES serves as the Secretariat for the Energy Transition Accelerator (ETA), a groundbreaking public-private partnership that mobilizes private capital to support energy transitions in developing countries. Additionally, our Advanced and Indirect Mitigation (AIM) platform explores innovative market mechanisms to address hard-to-abate emissions across value chains. Through these efforts, C2ES is at the forefront of developing and implementing market solutions that enable businesses to maximize their climate impact while driving sustainable economic growth.

Corporate Low-Carbon Transition

Wider public understanding of credible corporate climate action is needed to sustain investment, provide policy clarity, and build public trust. Building on C2ES’s previous work developing and disseminating best practices on how different industry sectors are evaluating and disclosing their climate risks and opportunities to investors, C2ES launched a new project to develop insights on how companies develop and communicate their low-carbon transition plans to stakeholders. This project and its accompanying report aim to support and accelerate the development of low-carbon transition plans that align with the objectives of the Paris Agreement among companies in real-economy industry sectors.

Building Resilience

In the face of increasing climate impacts, climate resilience is critical for communities and businesses to thrive. C2ES advances new resilience strategies, provides leading policy analysis, and convenes stakeholders around emerging challenges to build broad support for action and make investment in resilience a clear choice for public and private decision-makers. Our efforts focus on helping communities enhance local climate resilience, advancing business leadership around resilience, and driving federal policy.

Corporate Engagement in Climate Legislation

Mobilizing Corporate Support for the IRA

C2ES believes that effective climate policy is crucial for driving economy-wide decarbonization and partners with forward-thinking companies to advocate for ambitious climate action. We mobilize business support for key legislation, as evidenced by our campaign in support of the Inflation Reduction Act. We continued to bring together corporate leaders in our Net-Zero Infrastructure Campaign where we pushed for investments in clean energy, transportation, and resilient infrastructure. Similarly, our Build Back Better campaign united business voices in support of climate-smart economic recovery. C2ES also participates in the AAA Framework for Climate Policy Leadership, encouraging companies to advocate for effective climate policies, align their operations and value chains with climate goals, and allocate resources to support the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Passage of the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (IIJA), the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) represents an important and critical down payment on U.S. climate action. While this represents a significant first step toward meeting the U.S. goal under the Paris Agreement—50 to 52 percent reductions below 2005 levels by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 205— additional executive and legislative action is needed.

Shaping the Next Wave of Climate Policy

To complement and build upon existing federal legislation, C2ES is working with companies in the Business Environmental Leadership Council on policy in the following areas: permitting reform, implementing tech-neutral tax credits, and a national clean fuel standard.

• Permitting reform – C2ES and companies developed a set of policy recommendations in five key areas that would ensure successful permitting reforms: community engagement, transmission, critical materials, pipelines, and ensuring appropriate timelines. These recommendations include durable policies that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, catalyze investment, create good-paying jobs that benefit all Americans, and strengthen our national security by expanding domestic supply chains for low- and zero-carbon technologies.
• Tech-neutral tax credits – C2ES and companies developed and submitted formal guidance to the U.S. Treasury on implementing the tech-neutral tax credits, 45Y and 48E. The guidance encouraged the administration to issue effective and timely guidance to ensure companies have the support they need to incentivize innovation and bring new technologies to scale.
• Clean fuel standard – C2ES and companies have launched a clean fuel standard policy campaign (CFS) to identify the scope and design elements of an effective national CFS and educate policymakers on the need for enactment through federal legislation.