Global green economy to hit $7 trillion by 2030: WEF-BCG report

The green economy is already a multi-trillion-dollar market and one of the biggest growth opportunities on the planet, second only to technology in growth rate in the past decade, according to research released on Tuesday by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and Boston Consulting Group. 

Independent data in the 2025 "Already a Multi-Trillion-Dollar Market: A CEO Guide to Growth in the Green Economy" shows the sector's annual output has already crossed the $5 trillion mark and is on course to add a further $2 trillion this decade to exceed $7 trillion by 2030.

That trajectory would make low-carbon goods and services the fastest-expanding part of the world economy after technology, the report said, with compound annual growth of 6 percent.

Revenues and capital markets diverge in favour of 'green'

An analysis of 6,900 listed companies found that green-oriented business lines grew 12 percent a year between 2020 and 2024, twice the rate of conventional revenues. Firms with green revenues also lowered debt and equity by 43-104 basis points compared to peers, and typically traded at 12 to 15 percent higher valuations in the capital markets, the study found.

This, the study said, reflected investor confidence in their long-term resilience and profitability.

"Two years ago, in the World Economic Forum's Winning in Green Markets: Scaling Products for a Net Zero World, we argued that pioneering in green markets is a bet that would pay off and that large-scale green markets would become a reality, proving the business case," said Pim Valdre, Head of Climate and Nature Economy at WEF.

"Despite the current headwinds for global climate action, this report shows that the green economy is not a distant opportunity but already a major growth engine of this decade."

Cost curves flip the emissions maths

Sharp price declines have put many clean technologies on the right side of the spreadsheet. 

Solar has fallen almost 90 percent in cost since 2010, lithium batteries by the same margin and offshore wind by roughly half. The study calculates that 55 percent of the greenhouse-gas cuts needed for a 1.5 degrees Celsius pathway can already be achieved at cost-competitive levels. Another 20 percent requires only a minor cost premium while another 5 percent requires behavioural change.

The remaining slice – heavy-industry solutions such as low-carbon hydrogen, carbon-capture networks and advanced biofuels – still needs support. 

Deployment is "material but uneven," the authors noted, with Europe's 40-billion-euro subsidy pipeline and China's state-backed electrolyser roll-outs acting as testbeds.

China cements innovation leadership

Chinese companies now file the largest share of patents in solar, batteries, hydrogen and electric vehicles in the world. 

The country finances 60 percent of all new renewable capacity additions expected through 2030. 

Clean-energy investment there hit $659 billion in 2024, eclipsing either the European Union ($410 billion) and the United States ($300 billion).

Corporate case studies point to execution playbook

Fourteen members of the WEF's Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders opened their books for the study. 

Aggregate numbers show the group cut absolute emissions 12 percent between 2019 and 2023 while growing sales 20 percent – a performance the authors frame as evidence that climate strategy and profit and loss targets can reinforce, rather than offset, each other.

Individual cases include:

Schneider Electric, where 90 percent of 2024 revenues met EU green-taxonomy criteria after a two-decade push into energy-management software, helping lift sales from 9 billion euros to 38 billion euros.

India's power producer ReNew, which blended pension-fund equity and development-bank concessional loans to build 28 gigawatts of renewables at an 18 to 20 percent compound growth rate.

Heidelberg Materials, now marketing "net-zero" cement via a chain-of-custody certificate tied to its Norwegian carbon-capture facility – illustrating how early offtake contracts can de-risk frontier assets.

Window narrowing for late movers

With grid queues lengthening and critical-mineral supply chains tightening, companies that delay green transition face higher entry costs, the study concluded by saying "the green economy is no longer a distant promise."

It urged executives to lock in offtake agreements, embed life-cycle carbon data in product specs and treat sustainability as a balance-sheet, not marketing, exercise.

For governments, six policy levers are highlighted: set long-term decarbonisation targets, using green public procurement, de-risking instruments, fast-track permitting, aligned tax incentives and harmonized standards.

(Cover via VCG)