Green Economy Reaches US$ 5 Trillion, According to the World Economic Forum
“Sustainability is the future,” says José Roberto Colnaghi about the gree economy
COP30, held in November in Belém do Pará, Brazil, ended without a precise outcome. There were real advances in some areas, especially regarding climate change adaptation, but it was not possible to reach an agreement on basic aspects such as the phase-out of fossil fuels. The debate remains alive until the next COP, which will be hosted in Turkey in 2026. Even so, environmental topics continue to gain prominence globally, and the ESG agenda (environmental, social, and governance), used to evaluate companies’ sustainable and responsible practices, is becoming increasingly relevant.
The World Economic Forum states that the dynamism of the green economy is second only to the technology sector. In a newly released report, the institution estimates that the so-called “green economy” already reaches US$ 5 trillion per year and is expected to reach US$ 7 trillion by 2030. According to the document, on average, green revenues grow at twice the pace of conventional revenues, companies in the segment have access to cheaper capital, and they tend to be better valued in capital markets.
“This is an inescapable agenda; it is where the world is heading,” says José Roberto Colnaghi, chairman of the Board of Directors of Colpar Brasil, a holding company with businesses in several sectors, such as industry, agribusiness, and urban development. “Companies that do not adopt sustainability as a transversal pillar of their business will lose ground,” Colnaghi adds.
Investment in Green Bonds
In finance, the trend is clear. Once seen as a niche, ESG funds have become an important force in global finance, attracting trillions of dollars. According to Fortune Business Insights, a market intelligence and consulting firm, the global ESG investment market was valued at US$ 39 trillion in 2025 and is expected to reach US$ 125.17 trillion by 2032, growing at a compound annual rate of 18.1%.
This growth is driven by rising public concern about these issues, which leads companies to adopt sustainable practices and also issue green, social, and sustainability bonds, which exceeded US$ 160 billion in 2023. According to PwC’s global investor survey, 79% of investors consider ESG risks and opportunities when making investment decisions.
Institutional investors — such as pension funds, insurers, and governments — currently dominate the market, but the expectation is that individual investors will gain traction in the coming years.
“The environmental agenda opens up a huge economic horizon, which appears in finance but also in the real economy, with the need, for example, to hire professionals with green skills,” adds José Roberto Colnaghi.
And demand for these workers has been growing faster than supply. According to LinkedIn’s Global Green Skills Report 2023, between 2023 and 2024, demand for professionals with sustainable skills increased by 11.6%, while the number of workers without such qualifications rose by only 5.6%.
Reduction of Greenhouse Gases
These are jobs in various areas, such as regenerative and sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, sanitation, recycling, among others. “What matters is that the work contributes to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, preserving natural resources, and advancing the ecological transition,” says José Roberto Colnaghi.
Currently, Brazil counts 6.8 million formally registered green jobs, representing 9% of the total, of which 30% are held by young people aged 14 to 29, according to a study by UNICEF.
At COP30, green jobs were highlighted, with projections for the coming years. The study “Economic, Commercial, Human, and Financial Diversity for Brazil’s Ecological Transition,” by Instituto Aya and Systemiq, estimates that up to 10 million such jobs could be created in the country by 2030.
Another study, “Jobs of the Future in Brazil: A Just Transition to Low-Carbon Economies,” by Agenda Pública in partnership with Fundação Grupo Volkswagen, is less optimistic. It estimates 7.1 million green jobs by the end of the decade but projects 15 million by 2050.
Bioeconomy GDP
Moreover, the bioeconomy has shown significant strength. Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) calculates that Brazil’s bioeconomy GDP reached R$ 2.7 trillion in 2023, equivalent to one quarter of the country’s GDP. The bioindustry is the activity with the highest economic relevance, at R$ 1.8 trillion, followed by the primary bioeconomy with R$ 1.1 trillion.
Included in the calculation of the bioeconomy GDP are activities such as agriculture, livestock, plant extraction, fishing and aquaculture, food and beverages, pulp and paper, textiles, biofuels, tobacco products, and parts of the clothing, footwear, wood, pharmaceutical chemicals, rubber and plastics, furniture, and electricity industries.
“Owner of vast natural wealth and immense biodiversity, Brazil has everything it needs to be an important player in the global bioeconomy, which is gaining economic relevance and is, above all, the future,” notes José Roberto Colnaghi.
