Letter from London: Show me the carbon
Transition policies must recognise that significant industrial demand for carbon will continue even as economies hit net zero
“Even in an electrified world, carbon will remain a finite resource to be stewarded with the same discipline as land and water,” said Eveline Speelman, partner at system design company Systemiq, in a recent report by Energy Transitions Commission (ETC). This view may have wrongfooted policymakers gathering in Brazil for COP30 in mid-November. After all, the decarbonisation strategies of governments signed up to the Paris Agreement are dominated by plans to mitigate CO₂ by ramping up the deployment of renewables and electric vehicles. However, the ETC’s report—Carbon in an electrified future: Technologies, trade-offs and pathways—delivered a reminder to policymakers that the transition to net
Also in this section
12 March 2026
Role of world’s largest carbon cap-and-trade market under scrutiny as war in Iran threatens to drive EU energy costs to unsustainable levels
10 March 2026
Europe urgently needs to bring more projects to FID, as CCS investors warn they might divert capital to faster-growing regions
9 January 2026
A shift in perspective is needed on the carbon challenge, the success of which will determine the speed and extent of emissions cuts and how industries adapt to the new environment
2 January 2026
This year may be a defining one for carbon capture, utilisation and storage in the US, despite the institutional uncertainty
