Towards a green industrial transition: strategic opportunities for the EU

The document outlines the necessity of a radical reduction in industrial emissions to meet the EU's 2050 climate neutrality goal, arguing that current production-based models must shift toward needs-based models that respect biophysical boundaries. It identifies critical gaps in the European Green Deal's progress on decoupling economic growth from resource use and proposes three primary levers for transition: mobilizing finance through regulatory environments, creating incentives for new business models, and utilizing targeted interventions for demonstration projects.

• The EU industrial sector, which contributed approximately 25% of the EU's GDP in 2021, requires a radical emissions reduction to reach climate neutrality by 2050. While electricity production emissions fell by 37% between 1990 and 2021, industrial emissions increased by 20% during the same period.
• There is a perceived mismatch between the European Green Deal's goals and the systemic changes needed to decouple economic growth from resource use. The document argues that a production-based model is insufficient and advocates for a needs-based approach that prioritizes use and reuse over recycling and recognizes natural capital as a finite resource.
• The proposed Critical Raw Materials Act is cited as an example of legislation that may perpetuate a production-based approach because it focuses on increasing raw material extraction within the EU without addressing overall consumption levels.
• To support the green industrial transition, the session identified three necessary actions: mobilizing private capital by reducing the risk-averse nature of the finance sector through enabling regulations; creating market incentives for 'frontrunner customers' to pay a 'green premium'; and implementing a 'whole-of-government' approach to support demonstration projects and avoid EU Single Market fragmentation.

APA

Evaeus, C., Sanchez, F., Suljada, T., & Mobjörk, M. (2023). Towards a green industrial transition: strategic opportunities for the EU. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/session-brief-3-think2030.pdf

Chicago

Evaeus, Carly, Felipe Sanchez, Timothy Suljada, and Malin Mobjörk. Towards a green industrial transition: strategic opportunities for the EU. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2023. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/session-brief-3-think2030.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Evaeus |first1=Carly |last2=Sanchez |first2=Felipe |last3=Suljada |first3=Timothy |last4=Mobjörk |first4=Malin |title=Towards a green industrial transition: strategic opportunities for the EU |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=20 April 2023 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/session-brief-3-think2030.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{evaeus2023towards, author = {Evaeus, Carly and Sanchez, Felipe and Suljada, Timothy and Mobjörk, Malin}, title = {{Towards a green industrial transition: strategic opportunities for the EU}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2023}, month = apr, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/session-brief-3-think2030.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }