Clearing roadblocks to climate action
The need for coordinated action
Support implementation and transition – that is now the central task for governments aiming to turn ambition into action. Climate targets alone are no longer enough. As projects stall due to permitting hurdles, grid limitations, and local opposition, the pace of decarbonization hangs in the balance. Fast, coordinated action is needed to scale critical infrastructure, address workforce gaps, and build public trust. Only then will transition plans become reality.
Criticality of the topic
Ambitious climate targets must be backed by timely, effective implementation. Yet many transitions are stalled by practical bottlenecks such as grid constraints, permitting delays, social resistance, and workforce shortages. These barriers limit the speed and scale of deployment, particularly for infrastructure-heavy sectors like energy, industry, and transport. Without proactive planning and coordination, projects risk delays or cancellations despite political will or financial availability. Transition support measures, such as streamlined permitting, spatial planning, and skills development, are essential to translate ambition into delivery and ensure that decarbonization occurs at the pace required to meet national and global climate goals.
Latest developments
Governments are beginning to prioritize the delivery side of the transition. The EU’s REPowerEU and the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) channel substantial funding into grid expansion, hydrogen corridors, and clean tech manufacturing, while also introducing permitting fast-tracks. Countries like Germany and France are reforming approval procedures for renewables, storage, and grid infrastructure, though implementation progress remains uneven.
Public acceptance has emerged as a growing challenge, with infrastructure projects increasingly facing resistance due to land use, biodiversity, and fairness concerns, especially in rural and suburban areas. At the same time, clean energy deployment is constrained by labour shortages and skills gaps, prompting new vocational training initiatives across several countries.
Best-practice approaches are also emerging, including centralized one-stop-shop permitting portals, digital GIS-based site selection, and participatory planning frameworks that improve transparency and stakeholder engagement. These tools can help reduce lead times and improve trust in large-scale transition projects. At the same time, recent setbacks, such as the failure of high-profile industrial megaprojects like Northvolt’s battery production facility in Sweden, underline that large-scale investments in new sectors carry significant risks. This highlights the need for robust delivery structures, risk-sharing mechanisms, and pathways that balance bold transformation with more distributed, lower-risk implementation.
Trends and outlook
The success of the climate transition increasingly depends on the availability of enabling infrastructure and public acceptance of new projects. As deployment scales up, delays caused by permitting, public resistance, or capacity bottlenecks will significantly affect both cost and pace. Countries that streamline administrative processes, coordinate investment planning, and build public trust will be better positioned to attract capital and deliver complex projects on time. Conversely, lacking these conditions may lead to missed targets and stranded investments.
A growing focus on implementation efficiency, inclusive planning, and spatial integration is expected to shape national strategies over the coming years.
Governments and other policymakers
Policymakers must identify and prioritise critical infrastructure corridors across energy, transport, and industry, such as hydrogen backbones, transmission networks, and EV charging systems. Accelerating deployment requires comprehensive permitting reform, supported by digital tools, clear deadlines, and streamlined approval processes, including default approvals where appropriate. Germany for instance accelerated permitting through amendments to the Energy Industry Act (EnWG) and Federal Requirements Plan Act (NABEG), introducing digital procedures, binding timelines, and prioritization of key projects to speed up grid, hydrogen, and renewable energy infrastructure deployment.
Furthermore, basis for new technology integration is needed for instance reform of electricity system to make full use of BESS as well as grid stabilizing potential of wind energy as well as importance of gas in capacity market to further facilitate RES integration and fight negative price hours, affecting electricity producers.
To maintain public support, governments should implement transparent local engagement strategies, equitable siting practices, and benefit-sharing mechanisms that strengthen societal buy-in. In parallel, closing the clean tech skills gap is essential. This will require investments in targeted vocational training, apprenticeships, and university-industry collaboration to develop the workforce needed to deliver net-zero infrastructure at scale.
Companies and industrial players
Companies should expand their capabilities and engage early with local communities and authorities to align infrastructure development with local priorities and create shared benefits. By increasing value chain coverage, they can also unlock greater value creation and revenue opportunities. Leveraging public-private partnerships can help de-risk large-scale projects and mobilise capital for shared enabling infrastructure such as grid upgrades or hydrogen hubs.To reduce project delays, firms need to build internal capacity to manage permitting and regulatory compliance efficiently and transparently. Incorporating public acceptance considerations into project design, such as biodiversity safeguards, co-ownership models, or local employment, can further strengthen acceptance and long-term viability, particularly in communities directly impacted by the energy transition.
Investors
Investors should direct capital toward infrastructure funds and platforms that support grid expansion, flexibility solutions, and low-carbon industrial assets. Beyond financing, they play a key role in encouraging portfolio companies to prioritize permitting readiness and social acceptance in project development.Innovative financial instruments, such as sustainabi-lity-linked loans or transition bonds, can be used to tie capital access to clear implementation milestones. In parallel, investors should engage with policy-makers to highlight regulatory or permitting barriers that delay deployment or increase project risk. Proactive investor involvement can help accelerate delivery and improve the bankability of climate-critical infrastructure.
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