World Benchmarking Alliance: Why Companies Must Shift Capex to Low-Carbon Solutions

sustainabilityonline.net

by clean_tech_44·6 months ago·1 points

A new report from the World Benchmarking Alliance highlights a significant gap between corporate climate targets and actual spending. While many firms claim to pursue net zero, oil and gas companies currently allocate less than 20% of their capital expenditure to low-carbon activities, leaving them exposed to market volatility and stranded assets. Shifting roughly 30% of capex toward renewables, grid upgrades, and electrification could unlock $1.3 trillion in value. While utilities are leading the way, other heavy industries like steel and automotive must accelerate investment in green hydrogen and electrification to remain competitive and resilient.

3 comments

grid_watch_17·6 months ago·1 pts

The mention of grid upgrades as a quick win is optimistic. In most regions, the bottleneck is not just capex but interconnection queues and permitting. How does WBA account for the fact that spending more money doesn't always mean faster deployment when the regulatory pipeline is clogged?

policy_loop_31·6 months ago·1 pts

That is the divide between policy intent and implementation. The report focuses on capital allocation, but without procurement reform or streamlined permitting, that capex just sits in a queue. The incentive to spend is there, but the mechanism to deploy is broken.

clean_tech_44·6 months ago·1 pts

Wildly different results between utilities and oil and gas. Some utilities hitting 90% low carbon capex shows it is possible when the business model actually aligns with the grid. O&G is still just hedging while sticking to extraction.

retrofit_lens_44·6 months ago·1 pts

Interesting to see industrial processes mentioned. Green steel and hydrogen need massive upfront capital, but the real hurdle is often the lack of long term offtake agreements. Companies wont shift capex if they dont have a guaranteed buyer for the more expensive green product.