Climate change represents the defining environmental and economic challenge of the twenty-first century. Driven by greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, rising global temperatures are intensifying extreme weather events, biodiversity loss, and disruptions to food and water systems (IPCC, 2023).
Green technologies – innovations that reduce environmental impacts, improve resource efficiency, and lower greenhouse gas emissions – have emerged as a central pillar of global efforts to address climate change while driving economic growth and industrial transformation. The scale of this transition is significant: global investment in clean energy technologies reached approximately USD 2 trillion in 2024, surpassing fossil fuel investment for the first time, while the sector now employs an estimated 36 million people worldwide (IEA, 2024a; 2024b).
As the green economy becomes a central focus of international policy and industrial strategy, understanding patterns of green technological innovation has become increasingly important for policymakers and researchers. Meaningful cross-country comparisons, however, require a coherent and transparent classification framework that is both analytically robust and internationally comparable – the foundational objective of this study.
This overview introduces the WIPO Green Technology Inventory for Statistical Use (WIPO-GTIS) – a new harmonized classification methodology developed through a systematic, consensus-based process.