Making the Green Transition Work for People and the Economy

The report argues that for climate action to succeed, it must be designed to work for both people and the economy, embedding socioeconomic considerations into planning to avoid undermining social license and shareholder value. Using data from the World Economic Forum's Executive Opinion Survey, it identifies key barriers to competitiveness—such as higher energy costs and regulatory uncertainty—and equity risks, including job displacement and unequal access to capital. The document categorizes countries into six archetypes (e.g., Green Developers, Frontier Economies) to show how these challenges vary by structural context. It concludes with a guide for corporates to assess stakeholder impacts across the workforce, value chain, consumers, and communities, and to implement mitigation measures like reskilling and proactive stakeholder engagement.

• Business leaders generally remain optimistic about the green transition, with nearly 80% of countries reporting that business leaders believe it will have an overall positive impact on their national economy.
• Higher costs of energy and key commodities are the primary constraint to maintaining competitiveness during the green transition, cited by 37% of surveyed executives globally, and 47% in low-income economies.
• Access to green financing is perceived as a significant risk across all income levels, with 80% of executives identifying unequal access to green financing among companies as a risk in at least one industry in their country.
• The green transition is expected to cause significant labour market disruption, with an estimated 14.4 million jobs disrupted globally by 2030; while 9.6 million jobs may be created, 2.4 million could be lost.
• Concerns regarding worker displacement are inversely correlated with social protection coverage; countries with the highest support needs have the lowest social protection coverage at 43%, compared to a global average of 58%.
• Regulatory uncertainty and compliance burdens are a major barrier in high-income countries, cited by 36% of businesses globally, though this concern is less prevalent in lower-income economies.
• Frontier economies, characterized by low-income and high reliance on agriculture, face particularly acute challenges regarding investment capacity (41%) and energy/commodity costs (43%).
• Green developers, which include highly industrialized economies, lead in innovation but face risks of technological divides, with 78% of businesses concerned that green technology may not benefit all companies equally.
• Growth economies, such as India and Brazil, report high levels of regulatory uncertainty (42% globally for the archetype) and significant risks regarding the unaffordability of goods and services for consumers (62%).
• Corporate climate strategies that ignore socioeconomic dimensions risk undermining their social license to operate and long-term shareholder value, whereas those prioritizing positive outcomes can unlock new market opportunities.

APA

World Economic Forum (2025). Making the Green Transition Work for People and the Economy. https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Making_the_Green_Transition_Work_for_People_and_the_Economy_2025.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Making the Green Transition Work for People and the Economy. 2025. https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Making_the_Green_Transition_Work_for_People_and_the_Economy_2025.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Making the Green Transition Work for People and the Economy |date=November 2025 |url=https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Making_the_Green_Transition_Work_for_People_and_the_Economy_2025.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2025making, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Making the Green Transition Work for People and the Economy}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2025}, month = nov, url = {https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Making_the_Green_Transition_Work_for_People_and_the_Economy_2025.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }