Generating a just and green transition Aligning innovation and competitiveness policies in Europe with sustainability priorities

Competitive sustainability requires systemic change. Innovation, productivity, and growth must be redefined around sustainability and equity—not treated as side constraints. Yet policy mixes remain fragmented: sustainability is often invoked, but science, technology, and innovation policies frequently lack coherent instruments for innovation, capability-building, and inclusion. Robust, integrated databases are essential for evidence-based policymaking, enabling policy mixes to be tracked, compared, and adjusted over time. Green technologies can boost productivity, but benefits are uneven across regions and periods and depend on local scientific and technological capabilities. These gains must be designed to support, not weaken, social justice. Sustainability must also be tackled along value chains, where environmental and social costs are often externalised; upgrading global value chains is key to fair competitiveness. Ultimately, transformation is not technology-led alone: it requires long-term investment in people and institutions, inclusive governance, and frameworks linking innovation with labour, education, trade, and environmental policies.