Scaling the Industrial Transition 2025

Images: Adobe Stock, Unsplash Disclaimer This document is published by the World Economic Forum as a contribution to a project, insight area or interaction. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein are a result of a collaborative process facilitated and endorsed by the World Economic Forum but whose results do not necessarily represent the views of the World Economic Forum, nor the entirety of its Members, Partners or other stakeholders. © 2025 World Economic Forum. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system.Contents Foreword 3 Executive summary 4 1 Trends and progress in industrial transformation 5 1.1 The year in review 6 1.2 State of play of the industrial transition 9 1.3 Industrial transition dynamics in 2025 11 2 Enabling systems for industrial transformation 13 2.1 Technology landscape is advancing but uneven 14 2.2 Low-carbon demand is growing too slowly 15 2.3 Policy is fragmenting 17 2.4 Infrastructure is expanding but strained 19 2.5 Capital flows are resilient but unevenly distributed 20 Strategic priorities 23 Appendix 24 Contributors 27 Endnotes 29 Scaling the Industrial Transition: Hard-to-Abate Sectors and Net-Zero Progress in 2025 2