Human activities have been causing global warming since the Industrial Revolution, and today the carbon-intense industrial sector contributes 25% of global carbon dioxide emissions. In the U.S., that number grows to 30% of GHG emissions, if you include indirect emissions. Direct emissions are those produced on-site - burning fuel, chemical reactions during the production of metals (iron and steel), minerals (cement), and chemicals, and leaks - while indirect emissions are associated with the facility’s electricity use.
According to the MIT Climate Portal, some major emitters contribute to climate change as much as whole countries. Industries like concrete and fashion can produce as much climate-warming emissions as India, while the building sector beats China. However, as MIT Climate Portal demonstrates, it might make more sense to reframe this to thinking about “how an industry contributes to climate change, rather than just asking how much.”
How Industry Contributes to Climate Change
Energy Use – Factories, refineries, and processing plants rely on coal, oil, and natural gas, leading to high carbon emissions.
Industrial Processes – Manufacturing materials like cement, steel, and chemicals releases carbon dioxide and other pollutants.
Supply Chains – Transporting raw materials and finished products increases indirect emissions.
Waste and Pollution – Many industries generate non-recyclable waste and toxic byproducts that harm ecosystems, preventing them from adequately adjusting to the effects of climate change.
According to a 2024 UN Environmental Programme report, the industrial sector has “the potential to reduce its emissions by 5.4 gigatons yearly.” Key strategies to reduce emissions in the industrial sector include:
Policies like the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law offered tax incentives and funding for green technologies to push industries towards sustainability (White House, 2023). And, many corporations are setting net-zero emissions goals, improving transparency, and adopting eco-friendly innovations to meet environmental targets.
However, the passage of the Trump Administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill cuts many of these tax incentives and clean energy funding. By 2035 the law is estimated to increase total industrial energy expenditure by $7-11 billion. As the incentives have been removed it is less appealing and riskier for industries to invest in sustainable methods.
It would be remiss to discuss industry and climate change without mentioning what industry is built on: workers. While the right continuously pits labor against decarbonization, and while it makes sense that fossil fuel workers are skeptical of movements that seem to threaten their livelihood, the “jobs vs. environment” framework is a false dichotomy. And it is labor unions that have the power to bring these movements together.
There’s a lot of work to do to build a pro-worker, clean energy economy, but there are some examples of coalition-building projects dedicated to forging difficult alliances and cementing a labor-climate movement. The Climate Jobs National Resource Center is a national organization of state-based coalitions of labor unions working to combat climate change. Cornell’s Climate Jobs Institute, formed following Hurricane Sandy during which workers were at the frontline of disaster response, explores labor questions related to the green transition. The Just Transition Listening Project, launched in May 2020, produces a series of webinars with conversations between labor organizers, climate activists, workers, economists, and others. In New York City, Climate Works for All is a coalition of labor unions, and faith, community, and environmental justice organizations aiming to center workers and environmental justice communities in climate activism.
CREDIT: UNEP
Climate crisis solutions – Industry, from the UN Environment Programme, Nov. 15, 2021.
