Make sustainability part of how your business runs, not just what it stands for. It’s how you drive efficiency, stay competitive and build resilience in a changing world. The shift won’t happen through intention alone: it takes leadership, investment and collaboration at scale. Olivier Blum, CEO at Schneider ElectricThe green market represents a huge opportunity with plenty of unmet future demand for companies to serve. It also provides a material opportunity for governments to accelerate GDP growth, strengthen resilience and create jobs. This chapter presents some priority actions that both companies and policy-makers could take to enable them to seize these opportunities (see Box 5). 5.1 For companies: plenty more opportunities to harvest1 Enable customers to make greener choices2 Build the business case for green products2 Use public procurement to create early demand1 Set clear and reliable long-term decarbonization targets3 De-risk private capital to grow green investment and boost innovation 3 Shape and create demand4 Influence the rules of the market5 Align economic incentives for green investments4 Remove obstacles to green technology and infrastructure6 Develop standards for green marketsHow to accelerate green growth – a summary BOX 5 Companies Policy-makers The times of optimism, when any green business model seemed to wield unlimited potential, have passed. Still, on average, companies in the green economy have outgrown and outperformed69 – and this trajectory looks set to continue. The fundamental need for green technologies and business models – to decarbonize and build resilience against extreme weather – the superiority of (some) green technologies and the demand for green products in (some) consumer markets will continue to push growth forwards. Four opportunities for corporate leaders to accelerate the green economy Companies can make sure they don’t miss this window of opportunity by doing the following: 1. Enable customers to make greener choices: There is an underserved market for truly sustainable products that too few companies have tapped.70 Companies that are early to market should realize outsized growth.2. Build the business case for green products: By bringing down the cost of green technologies and accelerating mainstream adoption, companies could significantly expand the total addressable market, protect margins and position themselves competitively. 3. Shape and create demand: Demand for green solutions is still nascent in many sectors. That does not mean it is not there. Companies could activate this demand by understanding and marketing their true value, securing partnerships on initial offtake, aggregating demand through coalitions – such as the World Economic Forum’s First Movers Coalition71 – and, if needed, adapting their go- to-market strategy. 4. Influence the rules of the market: Companies could collaborate with regulators and peers to help transform policy goals into actions – by co-shaping incentives, removing investment barriers and bottlenecks, and partnering on streamlined standards. The global GDP impact from climate inaction could be around three times more costly than the ~$4 trillion needed annually to combat climate change. Already a Multi-Trillion-Dollar Market: CEO Guide to Growth in the Green Economy 43

Already a Multi-Trillion-Dollar Market 2025