When it comes to tackling climate change, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

We used that same term in a recent article explaining the significance of three recently enacted U.S. climate laws, and we’re mentioning it again today in the wake of a new report out last week.

“Action by governments and businesses individually is necessary, but not sufficient,” states the report, led by the International Energy Agency, International Renewable Energy Agency and the United Nations Climate Change High-Level Champions, an initiative connecting governments with nongovernmental entities.

“Well-targeted international collaboration can make low carbon transitions faster, less difficult, and lower cost,” the report states.

The above chart shows how a transition with less collaboration could be slower. The chart below shows how much more affordable a faster transition, enabled by more collaboration, could be compared to a slower transition, for select technologies.

Source: The Breakthrough Agenda Report 2022, “Empirically grounded technology forecasts and the energy transition” (Joule)