Making the Green Transition Work for People and the Economy 2025

Inclusive green adopters In the World Economic Forum’s equitable transition country archetype framework, inclusive green adopter economies include advanced, high-income economies with developed service sectors. With 17.8% of global real GDP , 4.7% of population and 6.6% of global emissions, this archetype’s green transition is underpinned by declining emissions intensity with relatively high per-capita emission levels, deep capital markets, robust structures and strong social support systems. Executives surveyed from countries in this archetype most frequently cite regulatory uncertainty and compliance burden (44%) as the top barrier to climate competitiveness, followed by higher cost of energy and key commodities, cited by 39% of executives. The slow ROI, noted by 31%, joins the top three barriers. At the same time, the archetype reports comparatively low concern over limited access to green technologies, with less than one in 10 executives identifying that as among the top three competitiveness concerns. This is reflected in higher average R&D expenditure in these countries than the global average. Similarly, access to finance constraints were identified at a lower level than the global average (24% versus 32%), supported by deep domestic credit markets. Equitable transition risks mirror global patterns. Around four in five executives identify financing capacity for green investments as the leading risk. Executives also express risks of disparities among companies in the lack of know-how and technology, which can potentially disadvantage companies in certain sectors, geographies or of certain sizes. In France, higher cost of energy and key commodities, regulatory uncertainty and compliance burden, and slow ROI lead the top climate competitiveness barriers, aligning closely with global levels. With lower levels of proportion of youth and tertiary graduates in STEM compared with global averages, concerns over access to green skills remain notable Limited accessibility of goods and services most consumers is the top concern on risks to equitable transition, cited by 85% of executives surveyed, significantly higher than the global average, followed by concerns over lack of capital or financing for green investments (81%). In addition, 61% of executives identify goods and services will become unaffordable for most consumers as a prominent risk. In Australia, regulatory uncertainty and compliance burden and affordability and demand for green products among consumers tie as the top climate competitiveness barriers, each supported by roughly a third of executives surveyed. The latter is supported by a significantly higher share of executives than all benchmarks. Limited investment capacity and access to finance and limited access to green technologies are each cited by 25% of executives, with the latter notably higher than all benchmarks. On equitable transition risks, three-fourths of surveyed executives expressed concerns over access to capital or financing for green investments ranks, followed by barriers from limited know-how for technology necessary for green investments (68%) and accessibility of goods and services will become for most consumers (66%). In the UK, regulatory uncertainty and compliance burden (65%), higher cost of energy and key commodities (43.8%), and slow ROI (30%) are identified as the top climate competitiveness barriers among surveyed executives. Organization culture and resistance to change rank fourth, cited by 26% of executives surveyed, higher than all benchmarks. Regarding equitable transition risks, companies’ equal access to financing for green investments ranks first, with 79% of executives identifying it as a major social-equity concern. This is followed by potential limitations on access to know-how and technology necessary for green investments (78%), despite R&D expenditure reaching 2.9% of GDP . Although ranked last overall, displacement of workers will stand out as a hot spot, identified by 46% of executives surveyed in the UK. 34 Making the Green Transition Work for People and the Economy