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Climate policy

Green industrial policy is not enough for net-zero decarbonization

Both green industrial policy (‘carrots’) and carbon pricing (‘sticks’) are seen as important instruments for decarbonization, but the sequencing strategy matters. Researchers now demonstrate that carrots alone — without sticks — are unlikely to reach long-term net-zero targets in the USA.

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Fig. 1: Annual US energy system CO2 emissions and associated carbon prices for different policy sequencing scenarios, 2015–2050.

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Correspondence to Mark Purdon.

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Purdon, M. Green industrial policy is not enough for net-zero decarbonization. Nat. Clim. Chang. 16, 15–16 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02514-8

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