The Green Industrial Strategy Project
The Green Industrial Strategy Project examines how business and government can create, scale, and compete in clean tech markets to accelerate decarbonization.
As clean technologies have entered the mass market, companies and countries have started to view decarbonization as an economic opportunity. They are pursuing strategies to compete in global clean technology markets. How do governments and companies develop strategies that enhance economic competitiveness and facilitate global decarbonization in a world of intensifying geo-economic competition?
Founded in 2025, the Green Industrial Strategy Project addresses this pressing question by supporting the theoretical, empirical, and practical study of green industrial strategy through collaborations involving scholars, practitioners, and policymakers. The project is a collaboration between the Institute for Business in Global Society (BiGS) at Harvard Business School and the Berkeley Economy and Society Initiative (BESI) at UC Berkeley, with support from the Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Business.
Research
Three workstreams
Scaling markets
What are the central problems that companies face in scaling markets for clean technologies? Analysts widely assume the cost of clean technologies and services is the main barrier to market penetration. We examine the role of coordination and profitability in supporting clean technology adoption across major emitting sectors. The goal is to identify private and public sector solutions to the three core problems of the clean energy transition.
Incumbents versus startups
Both incumbent firms and startups are investing in clean technologies and services. While startups are disrupting legacy industries, incumbents are reinventing themselves by going green. What are the opportunities and challenges that incumbent firms and new entrants face in the clean energy transition? What are their respective roles in the course of the transition, and how can they coordinate their efforts?
Institutions
Developing green industrial strategy requires new public, public-private, and private institutions that help build and scale clean tech markets. For instance, governments are scaling programs to invest in clean tech manufacturing and deployment. They also collaborate with the private sector in developing clean tech industries and supply chains. How do we design effective institutions for green industrial strategy?
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Co-Directors
Gunnar Trumbull
Philip Caldwell Professor of Business Administration
