Decarbonization Technologies Top Annual List of WEF’s Emerging Tech to Watch

Every year the World Economic Forum releases a list of its top 10 technologies that it predicts will make the biggest impact on society and our economy in the years ahead.

“Our goal with the list is always to identify those with the greatest potential for impact, but we also want to provide a diverse and inspirational list,” said Jeremy Jurgen, Managing Director at the World Economic Forum. “Every single technology has the potential to solve major global challenges.”

Following the recent COP summit in Glasgow where world leaders reiterated their support for a low carbon future and wrangled over carbon commitments, it’s not surprising that decarbonization technologies top the list.

Whether it’s carbon capture and storage, alternative sources of energy such as hydrogen fuel or renewable energy sources, WEF calls for a doubling down of effort and investment in new technology to help create a viable, low carbon future.

“Accelerating innovation in this decade is critical to bring these technologies to market and make them cost-competitive,” according to WEF.

Earlier this month, WEF announced the “First Mover” coalition that saw some of the world’s leading companies sign up to commit to accelerate the development of low carbon fuels and technologies. The initative is supported by US Special President Envoy for Climate John Kerry and has already seen companies like Amazon, Apple, Boeing, Volvo and Maesk join up.

"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,” said John Kerry at the launch of the initiative. “In this critical decade, we not only need to deploy as rapidly as possible existing clean energy technologies, such as wind turbines, solar panel, and battery storage, but also drive innovation for our long-term decarbonization goals."