Publication

How can research help the world hit net zero by 2050?

The drive to curb carbon emissions — and remove carbon from the atmosphere to the point where society is making a “net zero” contribution to CO2 levels — is essential to secure our future on this planet. A new report by Elsevier aims to advance the understanding of research and innovation in

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Pathways to Net Zero: The Impact of Clean Energy Research](https://www.elsevier.com/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/1214979/net-zero-2021.pdf) is based on a study analyzing more than 1.6 million papers from Elsevier’s Scopus database, combining data with content and subject-matter expertise to gain unique insights into how research can accelerate efforts to mitigate climate change. It’s designed to:

Provide descriptive insights into dimensions of research collaboration and knowledge transfer of particular relevance to net zero innovation ahead COP26.
Serve as an opening to discussions around net zero research and innovation.
Act as a springboard for debate on research funding and collaboration, technological choices and policy setting.

Download the report

More publications

Reducing material requirements while decarbonising the Spanish economy: from a green growth to a postgrowth paradigm

30 July 2026

The transition to a low-carbon economy is expected to increase material requirements, as low-carbon technologies (LCTs) typically require more materials than fossil fuel-based energy systems. Here, we extend the MEDEAS-Spain Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) to improve the representation of material requirements, stocks, and flows. Key novelties are: (i) the use

Climate ambition explained: key indicators and net-zero target projections using machine learning

29 July 2026

This study uses advanced machine learning algorithms to analyze the indicators influencing national climate ambition in 2030 emissions targets and net-zero pledges. By focusing on technical and social feasibility, and political credibility, we assess climate ambition of countries through cumulative per capita emissions from 2021 to the net-zero target year.

A harmonised dataset for Earth system foundation models

28 July 2026

Foundation models for Earth systems have so far been trained primarily on physical climate and weather data, with limited representation of the human systems that both drive and respond to environmental change. The lack of a unified global training resource that combines climate, land, ocean, cryosphere, infrastructure, hazards, and socioeconomic