Growth Lab | Harvard Kennedy School

NOVEMBER 2024

Green Growth

Visualization of green value chains and their components

ANNOUNCEMENT

New ‘Greenplexity’ Tool Guides Policymakers, Investors on Strategies for Green Growth

Created by the Growth Lab with the support of the Ministry of Economy of the Government of Azerbaijan

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN—Today at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29), the Growth Lab launched Greenplexity, an interactive tool that helps countries identify their localized opportunities for green growth by supplying what the world needs for the global energy transition.

The tool provides ten years of data for ten green value chains: batteries, critical minerals, the electric grid, electric vehicles, green hydrogen, heat pumps, hydroelectric, nuclear, solar, and wind power, and includes strategic outlooks for more than 140 countries.

The Growth Lab believes decarbonization will present a defining opportunity for growth by creating new industries, markets, and paths to economic development. Countries seeking to supply the booming demand for critical minerals, inputs, or green technologies required for green products such as solar panels and batteries can analyze how close these value chains are to their productive capabilities through Greenplexity.

We hope this tool will help us change the conversation around the energy transition where we not only talk about how a country can lower its emissions, but what each country can do to supply what the world needs to reduce global emissions. By supporting global decarbonization efforts and adopting a context-specific strategy for green growth, policymakers have a chance to transform their economies.”

Ricardo Hausmann

Director, Growth Lab

With Greenplexity, users can:

Find a country’s location in each green value chain and determine its level of competitiveness
Discover the country’s presence in each value chain compared to its expected value and the global average
Analyze the country’s best opportunities to enter green value chains by exploring the trade-off between measures of feasibility and attractiveness of each product

Underpinning Greenplexity is a similar framework of economic complexity that is featured in our Atlas of Economic Complexity, which provides place-based research insights on growth opportunities for 250 countries and serves over 2 million users. The launch of Greenplexity is coupled with new Atlas visuals depicting the connectedness of products across green value chains. This allows countries to chart their paths to growth in a decarbonizing world. Over the coming year, Greenplexity will be enhanced with new data, features and strategies for green growth.

Product space visualization of Vietnam's green products

Vietnam in the Green Product Space, 2022 Atlas of Economic Complexity

Snapshots from COP29

Growth Lab research manager Tim Cheston stands behind a podium and beside a large monitor with visual graphics.

Research manager Tim Cheston unveils Greenplexity during his presentation on the Growth Lab's green growth strategies.

A video of Ricardo Hausmann plays on a large monitor in a crowded event space.

In a video presentation, Ricardo Hausmann explains why decarbonization presents a defining opportunity for growth.

Rows of people seated in front of the stage at the COP29 Green Zone.

The event was hosted in the COP29 Green Zone and included Mikayil Jabbarov, Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan.

A monitor sits above a panel of discussants

Earlier in the week, Tim Cheston participated in panel discussions on climate finance, exports, and green growth.