Background

Originally organized by the UNFCCC Technology Executive Committee (TEC) in 2020 and 2021 with a focus on adaptation technologies, the TEC Technology Day spotlights the decarbonization of hard-to-abate industries, including the cement, steel, chemical, and petrochemical sectors. Technology Day on Transformative Industry was held in the last two years, in Baku, Azerbaijan during COP 29 and in 2024 and in Belèm, Brazil during COP 30 in 2025, recognising significant contribution of hard-to-abate industries to industrial emissions and the urgent need for scalable technological and policy solutions to drive their decarbonisation. At COP 31 in Antalya, Türkiye, the event on transformative industry is co-hosted by UNFCCC TEC and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in partnership with Germany and Japan.

The industrial sector holds significant potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Notably, the steel, cement, chemical and petrochemical industries, collectively referred to as hard-to-abate industries, are pivotal in this context as they are responsible for around 70 % of emissions from the industrial sector. Building on the TEC and UNIDO’s previous works on hard-to-abate industries, including TEC mapping paper and policy brief, TEC-UNIDO publication ‘Analysis of Standards and Labels for Low and Near Zero Emission Production and Products’ is jointly developed by the TEC and UNIDO to equip policymakers, industry leaders and international actors with concrete pathways for applying and harmonising standards and developing and enhancing policies to drive industrial transformation at scale.

Objectives

The objectives of this side event are to officially launch the publication, look at existing carbon intensity standards, labels and emissions thresholds, and share implementation challenges, gaps and opportunities referring to the country examples. Specifically, this side event aims to:  

• Launch the TEC-UNIDO publication on ‘Analysis of Standards and Labels for Low and Near Zero Emission Production and Products’: The event will provide an overview of the analysis, including mapping of existing regulatory and voluntary standards, and implementation challenges across the hard-to-abate industries, as well as case studies and practical guidance to harmonise standards, scale up low-carbon industrial production and products;
  
  
• Discuss implementation challenges and gaps: The event will discuss implementation challenges and gaps in the current standards and labels for low and near-zero emission production and products, by looking at countries’ specific examples;
  
  
• Identify concrete pathways for standards and labels as drivers of technology development and transfer: The event will discuss opportunities and best practices as well as identifying solutions to address key challenges for their implementation and accelerate industrial decarbonisation.