Action needed to tackle climate change will inevitably require a new industrial revolution, touching all countries. This should serve as both a challenge and an opportunity for the private sector – one to which it is responding. New technologies, investments, financial instruments and industry initiatives
are multiplying, with support from governments. Low carbon competitiveness is recognized as key to realizing new opportunities. There may well be – at the same time – market failures limiting the take-up of private sector action, and there may be interests and lobbies holding back progress in some sectors. There are also likely to be losers as well as winners in society from disruption and innovation associated with climate action; in this sense, there are strong parallels between the debates on climate change,
globalization and automation. For all these reasons, public policy has a big part to play in shaping, directing and supporting the private sector response to the challenge of climate change. There are no universal recipes that guarantee results in different political and socioeconomic environments, but many
potential ingredients. Strong multi-stakeholder processes at country level can help mix these in the right proportions to deliver sustainable results.
