Regional Industrial Transitions to Climate Neutrality
Some manufacturing activities are among the most difficult human activities to make
climate neutral and they are typically regionally concentrated. Across Europe these
regions are often socioeconomically relatively weak. Yet these sectors provide relatively
well-paid jobs in many of these regions. Some of these regions may also have more
difficult access to infrastructure to provide the hydrogen, carbon capture and storage
and zero-emission freight, which can be important to some of these activities. Industrial
transitions to climate neutrality therefore have regional development implications.
Since regions differ in their socio-economic conditions, understanding these regional
development implications will help policy makers prepare a just transition. This publication
identifies manufacturing activities that are particularly difficult to decarbonise
and the transformations they require. It shows how these activities are distributed
across European regions, focusing on employment at emission-intensive production locations.
It identifies conditions for getting access to needed infrastructure and how access
conditions differ across regions. It investigates the socio-economic vulnerabilities
of affected regions, their manufacturing businesses and workers. In some regions,
workers and firms may be particularly vulnerable, for example, because of low-skill
jobs, type of employment contract or low productivity.
Available from February 15, 2023
In series:OECD Regional Development Studiesview more titles