In this issue: Our New CEO, Strategic Priorities and Progress Tracking

Signal from MPP | Issue No. 2311-9?

In this issue: MPP Leadership – Faustine Delasalle appointed CEO; Unlocking Projects – our strategic priorities; Global Reach – regional partnerships and progress tracking.?

OUR NEW CEO is a familiar face for anyone who has followed the rapid evolution of the Mission Possible Partnership, from our genesis as an Energy Transitions Commission’s landmark report in 2018 to today’s fully independent not-for-profit.??

In three short videos, Faustine Delasalle talks to MPP co-chair Chad Holliday about her priorities for the future: what we’ve learned, the importance of an experimental approach, and MPP’s unique delivery model to support commercial-scale decarbonisation projects within 2-3 years. We’re working on the ground, to get shovels in the ground.???

As always, thank you for re-posting this issue of Signal or forwarding to interested colleagues and friends. The MPP alliance is expanding – and we look forward to working with you.?

Mission Possible Partnership is?a movement of climate leaders in business and civil society driving industrial decarbonisation across the entire value chain of the world’s highest-emitting sectors: aluminium, cement, chemicals, steel; aviation, shipping, and trucking. We’re charting the inventive steps and radical collaboration to enable commercial-scale deep decarbonisation projects in this decisive decade.

Please comment, or message us with your feedback and insights.?

1. MPP Leadership??

Delasalle appointed CEO??

Goal is ‘shovels in the ground’ for deep decarbonisation projects by 2025?

MEET OUR NEW CEO. The MPP Board has appointed Faustine Delasalle , previously MPP’s Executive Director, to the position of Chief Executive Officer. Faustine will lead MPP’s growing portfolio of activities to unlock deep decarbonisation projects in heavy industry and transport, including ongoing projects in the US and Europe.?

• Projects portfolio will diversify, as MPP adopts an experimental approach to understand what works to unlock investment at scale and share learnings widely????
• Pipeline of flagship projects is growing, but Final Investment Decisions are needed within three years for projects to be up and running by 2030?
• Executive network of Senior Fellows from business and policy will leverage C-suite relationships, carrying MPP vision to decision-makers in corporate and governments?

The appointment completes MPP’s transition to a fully independent not-for-profit entity, dedicated to unlocking a critical mass of zero-carbon projects across seven carbon-intensive industries in this decade, – and to getting ‘shovels in the ground’ by 2025 to enable those projects to be up and running by 2030.?

Faustine’s unwavering vision and her reputation as a coalition-builder who can really get things done means her appointment as CEO is a natural next step to intensify momentum on the challenges ahead -- Chad Holliday, MPP co-chair?

Faustine first conceived that deep decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors was ‘mission possible’ in 2018, during her work as the head of the Energy Transitions Commission , one of MPP’s four founding partners. Five years on, MPP’s seven sector transition strategies have been endorsed by more than 200 leading global corporates.?

Fig. 1. 2030 Milestones

In recent years, the first zero-carbon plants have broken ground in most sectors – notably in green steel and Sustainable Aviation Fuels (see below). However, the pipeline of new projects is uneven and falls far short of the real-economy milestones that need to be hit by 2030 to put those sectors on the path to net zero (Fig. 1).??

A voluntary network of Senior Fellows leverages their experience in industry and policy to support C-suite executives in hard-to-abate sectors: “Our Senior Fellows can share their experience, of being in their shoes, and of the struggles that come with decarbonisation,” said Faustine.??

MPP will also continue to work closely with its founding partners and a wide network of strategic and delivery partners bringing diverse sectoral expertise, functional expertise and geographical footprints to bear.?

Fig. 2. MPP’s delivery model?leverages unique skills, partnerships and experience?

MPP Senior Fellows:

?2. Strategy?

Experimental approach to unlocking projects spans green hubs, value chain orchestration and market accelerators?

Technology, demand and policy drivers catalyse investment in green steel and Sustainable Aviation Fuels?

?

?

WE ARE ADOPTING an experimental approach to unlocking commercial deep decarbonisation projects at scale. We’re inspired by signals of hope we see in sectors like green steel and Sustainable Aviation Fuels, which indicate that a combination of technology, demand and policy drivers is key to improving the business case for investment.?

MPP is experimenting with:?

• Finding synergies between sectors in industrial hubs, starting with two US green industrial hubs in Texas and California where we’ve pioneered this approach in partnership with the Bezos Earth Fund ?
• Bringing together critical stakeholders along specific value chains – for instance, steel producers, iron ore miners, energy producers, and buyers of steel – to identify with them opportunities for efficiencies, cost reductions and green premiums that will make investment profitable?
• Developing “market accelerators”, platforms where green suppliers and green buyers can meet and transactions be simplified and de-risked?

No single formula for greening heavy industry and transport will succeed across multiple sectors and geographies. Last month, MPP announced the Transatlantic Clean Hydrogen Trade Coalition, created to enable the first clean hydrogen shipment across the Atlantic by 2026 (see Signal No. 8 ).??

By supporting close collaboration between stakeholders up and down industrial value chains, MPP is working to learn what works and inspire a multiplication of projects.?

?Fig. 3. MPP supports Announced Projects to reach Final Investment Decision??

Recent progress in the steel sector demonstrates that opportunities to collaborate across the value chain can be leveraged to improve the economics of investment in steel production in multiple regions. “We’re seeing that steel producers, together with their suppliers of iron ore and energy, their customers, and the buyers from their buyers – are able to mitigate technology risks, and, with a little help from policymakers, create a positive business case for investment,” said Faustine.??

Economies of scale are also emerging in aviation, where technology costs for sustainable jet fuels are set to fall while demand is soaring. Catalytic factors include blending mandates and an interest from business travellers. A rising tally of global companies are indeed keen to reduce the carbon footprint of business travel by employees. At the same time, earlier this year the European Union adopted a blending mandate to progressively increase the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuels.?

3. Global Reach?

China and India are priorities for expanding global partnership?

MPP Global Projects Map tracks announced projects against 2030 milestones??

?

THE MAMMOTH TASK of curbing global emissions from our seven heavy industry and transport sectors calls for a coordinated but adaptable global strategy. MPP will expand our operations beyond the US and Europe by forging deeper ties with regional partners, crucially in China and India.??

• China is a world leader in renewables technologies and, at the same time, concentrates more than half of global production in some hard-to-abate industries – MPP will work with local partners to keep its fingers on the pulse of commercial-scale decarbonisation in China and implications for global value chains.?
• India’s economic expansion in the next 15 years will drive demand for cement, steel, plastics and transport – we will work with local stakeholders and financial institutions on value chain initiatives to deploy cleaner technologies in fast-growing carbon-intensive sectors.?

• “China is moving very fast and might surprise the world, for instance, in terms of steel decarbonisation,” said Faustine. “We don't have that clarity. We have signals. Non-Chinese players also respond to those developments, and we look forward to tightening our links with different Chinese partners to enable productive dialogue.”??
• The emissions intensity of India’s economy is improving, according to International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts: the share of non-fossil fuels in electricity generation is on track to reach almost 60% by 2030 ahead of commitments set out in India’s Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris Agreement.??

However, spending on infrastructure is driving demand for key materials. Cement production is forecast to rise by about 10% annually, as infrastructure consumes almost one-third of total output by 2030, up from 22% in 2023. Steel demand is set to increase by more than 7% per year. “It's critical for us to get this right. We will continue to work hand in hand with the Indian government and with Indian companies,” said Faustine.?

Our sector transition strategies demonstrate the need to build hundreds of net-zero industrial projects by 2030 to meet the global goal of net zero emissions by mid-century.?We will ramp up our efforts to track announced projects globally and monitor their progress toward final investment decisions and eventually operation.???

• The MPP Global Projects Map tracks the pipeline of projects globally: by location, asset and stage of investment decisions – to gauge progress to ‘shovels in the ground’ against our 2030 milestones.?

Fig. 4. The clock is ticking: Final Investment Decisions are needed within 2-3 years?

Fig. 5. MPP is tracking First Projects by location, assets and investment decisions?

Mission Possible Partnership is?a movement of climate leaders in business and civil society?driving industrial decarbonisation across the entire value chain of the world’s highest-emitting sectors: aluminium, cement, chemicals, steel; aviation, shipping, and trucking. We’re charting the inventive steps and radical collaboration to enable commercial-scale deep decarbonisation projects in this decisive decade.?