
How Decarbonization Drives Long-Term Resilience
Companies may be tempted to deprioritize net zero efforts as they focus on reinforcing the resilience of their business. That would be a mistake.
Decarbonization can deliver up to $26 trillion in economic gains by 2030. BCG helps organizations deploy forward-thinking decarbonization solutions that achieve sustainability and boost long-term growth.
Companies are facing intense pressure to remove carbon from their operations, manufacturing, product designs, and supply chains. Government policies, such as the US Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and the European Green Deal, offer meaningful incentives for large-scale decarbonization, conferring significant advantages for companies that act now—with potential for significant green growth.
Leading companies are proving that net zero decarbonization is a business opportunity that can bring sustainable competitive advantage. They aren’t just creating more value; they’re changing the game in their industries by showing the way to a profitable, decarbonized future.
At BCG, we take a highly sector- and company-specific approach to decarbonization, since each organization’s operating environment, assets, and regulatory constraints are unique. We help companies deploy decarbonization methods to reduce the carbon intensity of their operations and activities across the full value chain, and we help identify new business opportunities that can deliver sizable revenue streams.
We focus on a variety of high-impact decarbonization solutions, all of which represent both decarbonization levers and growth opportunities. They include:
We also help clients deploy forward-thinking decarbonization methods in sustainable operations—which reduce emissions across the product life cycle, increase sustainability in procurement and supply chain, enhance operational efficiency, and help transition to the circular economy—as well as nature-based solutions.
A leading steel manufacturer, and one of the fastest-growing companies in the world, committed to deep decarbonization by reducing its CO2 emissions by more than 40% by 2030. BCG helped the company eliminate 9 million tons of CO2 from a single steel plant, and this successful decarbonization strategy is now being replicated across the entire organization.
Companies may be tempted to deprioritize net zero efforts as they focus on reinforcing the resilience of their business. That would be a mistake.
As countries around the world rebuild their infrastructure for sustainability, private investors are gravitating toward low-carbon hydrogen projects.
Experience curve effects will reduce the cost of carbon capture deployment. But for these projects to happen at scale, policymakers will need to take action.
BCG’s delegation of leaders will be at COP28, the UN Climate Change Conference, where they will work alongside public, private, and social sector leaders to accelerate climate action and advance adaptation and resilience. Learn more about our in-person and virtual programming.
BCG’s decarbonization consulting team has deep expertise in accelerating the path to net zero decarbonization, deep decarbonization, industrial decarbonization, hydrogen, carbon capture, and biofuels. Here are some of our experts in decarbonization.