This tool aims to introduce policymakers to a range of indicators and methods that can be used to measure, design and evaluate the green transition of their manufacturing industries. It does so along five key thematic areas:

  • Energy & CO2
  • Water use
  • Material use
  • Waste management
  • Environmental goods

While the first four areas focus on reducing the manufacturing sector’s environmental impact, the last thematic area explores the economic opportunities available to countries. To emphasize the need for action, the analysis includes various indicators for a “hotspot assessment”. In the climate change literature, “hotspots” are areas with a significant climate signal and a high concentration of vulnerable people. We adopt this concept to industry and use it to evaluate and identify countries where industry poses a particularly strong risk to the environment, such as biodiversity loss, sea level rise or flood risk, global climate risk or water stress.

By engaging with the key concepts and indicators, policymakers can benchmark their country against others and identify successful comparators and failures. The tool also provides practical advice by introducing industrial policy options through case studies. It addresses different sets of questions: How does the country fare in terms of greenhouse gas emissions from industry or water and material efficiency? What is the country’s level of waste production and how has it changed over time? Which sectors are performing well or poorly in terms of greenhouse emission intensity? What economic opportunities can a country gain by expanding its green sectors?