Global South Is Already Losing Ground in the Green Tech Boom

The UN warns that many countries in the Global South may miss out on opportunities in the green tech transition if national governments and the international community do not take action soon.

A new report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) explains that in order to move towards a more sustainable and equitable future, it will no longer be possible for economies to rely on the historical pathways of carbon-fuelled growth. Instead, countries should take “green windows of opportunity” in the fields of science and technological innovation, which take advantage of digitalization and connectivity, called frontier technologies. These include the Internet of Things, Concentrated Solar Power, Blockchain, Nanotechnology, Big Data, 5G, Biofuels, Electric Vehicles, Gene Editing, Robotics, Drone Technology, 3D Printing, Wind Energy, Biogas and Biomass, Green Hydrogen, Solar PV and Artificial Intelligence.

Frontier technologies are a lucrative industry, with great potential for future growth. According to UNCTAD data, where the estimated market worth of frontier technologies was $1.5 trillion in 2020, this is forecast to hit $9.5 trillion by 2030.

As the following chart shows, both groups of higher and lower income countries were fairly well matched in 2018, with each group exporting around $60 billion worth of green technologies. But just three years on and the disparity had grown, as developed nations raced ahead, exporting more than $156 billion worth of green technologies by 2021 - a 160 percent increase - versus the $75 billion of developing nations, only a 32 percent increase. The writers of the report warn that as time passes, it may be harder to close the gap, as developed economies seize many of the opportunities available to them, while leaving developing economies behind.

To stop this from happening, the UNCTAD is calling on governments in developing countries to change their policies to encourage the growth of more complex and greener sectors, while boosting scientific and technical technical skills in their countries, addressing connectivity gaps between urban and rural regions and scaling up investments in ICT infrastructure. At the same time, developed countries need to uphold trade rules that are consistent with the Paris Agreement on climate change.