Innovating for the European Green Deal

The report emphasizes the necessity of a 'twin transition'—integrating green and digital imperatives—to maintain Europe's global competitiveness. It highlights that while Europe is a research powerhouse, its R&D investment (2.3% of GDP) lags behind the US, South Korea, and Israel. The document calls for agile, harmonized regulations, increased investment in clean-energy technologies, and a focus on upskilling the workforce to prevent job losses during the shift to a circular economy.

• To reach net zero by 2050, global renewable energy capacity additions must increase from 134GW per year in 2020 to 630 GW per year by 2030. Achieving 2030 climate goals will require an annual investment of $1 trillion to develop new technologies.
• Europe's investment in research and innovation stands at 2.3% of GDP, which is below the global average of 2.66% and significantly lower than the US (3.4%), South Korea (4.81%), and Israel (5.44%). The European Commission has set a target of 3% of GDP for research and innovation.
• The 'twin transition' integrates digital solutions to improve energy efficiency and sustainability. For example, digital tools can monitor energy consumption and increase renewable integration, while the ICT sector—which accounts for 8–10% of Europe's electricity consumption—must embed sustainability to reduce its own footprint.
• The transition to a climate-neutral economy will significantly disrupt the job market. While 24 million green jobs are expected to be created by 2030, the global economy could lose up to 71 million jobs if skills development does not keep pace with the move toward a circular economy.
• Regulatory fragmentation across EU member states hinders the scaling of innovation. Specific barriers include the lack of VAT benefits for renting solar technology, the contractual link between solar panels and real estate, and insufficient cross-border data flows and spectrum bandwidth for 5G.
• In the agricultural sector, switching to low-carbon 'clean ammonia' produced via solar, wind, and hydropower could reduce the industry's carbon emissions by 70% to 95% by 2050, depending on the scenario.

APA

World Economic Forum (2023). Innovating for the European Green Deal. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Innovating_for_the_European_Green_Deal_2023.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Innovating for the European Green Deal. 2023. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Innovating_for_the_European_Green_Deal_2023.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Innovating for the European Green Deal |date=January 2023 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Innovating_for_the_European_Green_Deal_2023.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2023innovating, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Innovating for the European Green Deal}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2023}, month = jan, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Innovating_for_the_European_Green_Deal_2023.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }