LONDON — Weak demand for green products is curbing needed investment of up to $700 billion in low-carbon projects in heavy-emitting industries such as aluminium, steel and cement, an initiative launched at last year's United Nations Climate Summit says.

Over 450 large-scale industrial projects globally are seeking hundreds of billions of dollars of investment to slash carbon emissions, the Industrial Transition Accelerator (ITA) said in a statement on Thursday.

The ITA was set up at the COP28 summit in Dubai to stimulate needed investment in green projects.

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The six heavy industry sectors examined in the report – aluminium, cement, chemicals, steel, aviation and shipping – contribute approximately 30 percent of all global CO2 emissions, the ITA said.

"To keep on track with Paris-aligned climate targets, a critical mass of large-scale projects... must reach their final investment decision in the next 2-3 years," the group said.

But project developers have not secured firm commitments from buyers for low-carbon products such as green steel and sustainable aviation fuel in order to secure the necessary finance, it added.

"The lack of clear, sustained demand for low-carbon products is the single biggest barrier to investment. Businesses and financiers cannot commit to these projects without market certainty," said Faustine Delasalle, executive director of the ITA Secretariat.

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The ITA is active in Brazil and the United Arab Emirates, providing targeted support to project developers, the statement said.