Already a Multi-Trillion-Dollar Market 2025

Quantified goals and performance metrics across financial targets and green standards must flow from this strategy to keep the organization in lockstep and clearly communicate value to investors and customers. This is particularly important for customers of green products, as it demonstrates credibility in the product and its green “claims”. While measurements may be industry-specific, companies can consider using life-cycle assessments (LCAs), product carbon footprints (PCFs) and chain-of-custody (CoC) methodologies. Transparently communicating green standards in external communications can materially strengthen the value proposition and build a culture of trust with customers and investors. CASE STUDY 2 Heidelberg Materials – Scaling-up carbon-captured cement through novel green standards (chain-of-custody models) GREEN STANDARDS In June 2025, Heidelberg Materials inaugurated the world’s first industrial-scale carbon capture facility in the cement industry at its Brevik plant in Norway. This demonstrates the viability of carbon capture and storage (CCS) for the cement industry and enables production of the first carbon-captured net-zero cement at scale. Customers can purchase Heidelberg Materials’ net-zero cement – known as “evoZero” – either as a physical product shipped directly from Brevik or as a virtual product, whereby local cement from any Heidelberg plant in Europe is paired with a Brevik-issued environmental attribute certificate (EAC). Such novel chain-of-custody models are critical to building the business case for CCS: they enable Heidelberg Materials to reach first-mover customers seeking net-zero products – even in markets where CCS is not yet scaled-up – while helping to avoid additional transport emissions and costs. It is important to promote the acceptance for innovative market-based mechanisms, such as chain-of-custody models. This drives demand and supports the business case for deep decarbonization. Katharina Beumelburg, Chief Sustainability & New Technologies Officer, Heidelberg Materials Insights from Brevik are already informing a dozen additional CCS projects across the company, some aiming for full plant decarbonization by 2030, providing a blueprint for broader industrial adoption and allowing for the scale-up of Heidelberg Materials’ net-zero product offering that helps customers achieve their CO2 reduction targets. Sources: Executive leadership interview with Heidelberg Materials. Value proposition: a compelling solution that is not just green, but fundamentally competitive Effective companies develop a sharp unique selling proposition rooted in genuine customer needs and built around real and latent demand. While this might seem obvious, it remains a common pitfall for companies in the green economy. “Being green(er)” is not a value proposition in itself – it only becomes valuable when it serves a genuine demand and continues to meet that demand at a competitive quality and cost. Too many early-stage companies in technologies such as low-carbon hydrogen or e-fuels are failing on quality and cost competitiveness. Equally important is building robust business cases that demonstrate both environmental and financial value. For companies, this means quantifying the financial upside of sustainability and identifying opportunities where customers might be willing to pay a green premium for a solution. When there is no green premium it is critical to quickly compete with conventional, “grey” solutions on value. Finally, leaders de-risk their value proposition by actively shaping it via early offtake agreements. By signalling market confidence and demonstrating tangible value, these agreements help set direction for customer preferences, provide critical proof points to the market and ensure revenue certainty. My biggest lesson: keep it simple for your teams and for your customers. Don’t just focus on building great products – make adoption simple for your customers. The easier you make it for customers to succeed, the faster they create value for their communities. Matthew Pine, CEO, Xylem Already a Multi-Trillion-Dollar Market: CEO Guide to Growth in the Green Economy 32