The OECD report on Mission-oriented policies for Net Zero arrives at a critical moment. As more countries adopt mission-oriented innovation policies (MOIPs) to address urgent challenges such as climate change, the need for clear evidence of their effectiveness has never been more pressing. While still in the early stages of implementation, MOIPs are already under scrutiny to demonstrate their impact and added value compared to traditional approaches. This report aims to address that gap, providing insights from 101 net-zero missions and 17 in-depth case studies to assess how well MOIPs support national greenhouse gas emissions reduction commitments.
MOIPs have introduced a new approach to tackling large-scale challenges by fostering the collective development of ambitious objectives, aligning their plans on these objectives and moving together towards their realisation. This report highlights the progress made by net-zero missions. Over the last five years of intense implementation of and learning on missions, the leadership of Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) authorities has been crucial in these missions, convening diverse stakeholders to align efforts.
However, many of these missions still face obstacles, such as a lack of clear directions, persisting siloes, limited joint-action, and unfit evaluation. Furthermore, while missions tend to benefit from more stable, long-term funding than traditional STI initiatives, their resources are often fragmented. To fully unlock their potential, dedicated multi-annual funding is essential to incentivise partners, fill gaps, and enhance portfolio management. Furthermore, private sector engagement remains underdeveloped, requiring new funding mechanisms and financial models to raise the necessary capital for large-scale implementation.
These issues highlight the need for deeper change, not only of the missions themselves but also of the wider systems in which they are embedded, including for instance the structure of incentives, budgeting mechanisms, agencies capabilities and practices.
Going forward, a major challenge remains: securing stronger commitments from sectoral and financial partners to scale up and implement solutions. Missions must ensure they are connected to national climate and industrial policy funds and other large sustainability resources to bridge the final gap from innovation to large-scale deployment.
Overcoming obstacles will require a new generation of MOIPs – ones that are truly transformative and equipped with the necessary tools, resources, and collaborations to meet national and global targets.