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A steel company is an interesting example. Steel and cement/aggregates are carbon intensive - but vital ingredients run a modern industrial economy. Setting a carbon efficiency of x dollars of revenue per ton of co2 disadvantages some vital, necessary industries (steel/cement) in favour of other industries (tech). Should carbon budgets be different for each industry? If they are not then we disincentive the production of steel or cement in western countries where these metrics are tracked and transfer to other countries (China) where carbon emissions are likely higher. Also introduce issues with respect to supply chain/national security risks which need to be balanced against climate risks.

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Thanks Nelson. Yes - carbon budgets can be different for each sector depending on the scenario(s) you choose. The example above is for the IPCC Net-Zero scenario without sector budgets as a baseline, but there are sector-based budgets using the NGFS framework of scenarios and PRI Inevitable Policy Response scenario. We have the capability of using those scenarios too for our customers and actually the subject of a future post.

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