BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) may miss out on the benefits of the “green tech” revolution unless governments and the international community take decisive action now.
“We are at the beginning of a technological revolution based on green technologies. This new wave of technological change will have a formidable impact on the global economy,” said UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan.
In its latest report titled “Technology and Innovative Report 2023,” UNCTAD said the 17 technologies covered have the potential to create market revenues of more than US$9.5 trillion by 2030.
But the report showed that that very few developing countries, including the Caribbean, have the capacities needed to profit from such green tech as blockchain, drones, gene editing, nanotechnology, and solar power.
Ranking 166 countries based on information communication and technology ICT), skills, research and development, industrial capacity, and finance indicators, the index is dominated by such high-income economies as the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden and the United States.
It also shows that countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa are the least ready to harness frontier technologies and are at risk of missing current technological opportunities.
UNCTAD notes that used to produce goods and services with smaller carbon footprints, the new wave of green technologies spans artificial intelligence to electric vehicles.
The report calls for coherent policy action to enable developing countries to profit from green tech or risk facing growing economic inequalities, as developed countries reap most of the benefits.
“Developing countries must capture more of the value being created in this technological revolution to grow their economies,” said Grynspan said.
“Missing this technological wave because of insufficient policy attention or lack of targeted investment in building capacities would have long-lasting negative implications,” she added.
While green tech exports from developing nations rose to US$75 billion from US$57 billion between 2018 and 2021, their share of the global market fell to 33 percent from 48 percent. During the same period, green exports from developed countries jumped to US$156 billion from US$60 billion.
UNCTAD’s analysis shows that developing countries must act quickly and move to a development trajectory leading to more diversified, productive, and competitive economies. Previous technological revolutions have shown that early adopters can move ahead quicker and create lasting advantages.
Proactive industrial, innovation, and energy policies targeting green technologies are needed in developing countries so they can benefit from the green tech revolution, said the director of UNCTAD’s technology and logistics division, Shamika N. Sirimanne,
“Developing countries need agency and urgency in coming up with the right policy responses. As developing countries respond to today’s urgent interconnected crises, they also need to take strategic, long-term action to build innovation and technological capacities to spur sustainable economic growth and increase their resilience to future crises,” she said.
UNCTAD calls on governments in developing countries to align environmental, science, technology, innovation, and industrial policies, and urges them to prioritize investment in greener and more complex sectors and provide incentives to shift consumer demand towards greener goods.
The report also calls for an international program to guarantee purchases of tradable green items, coordinated green technology research at the multinational level, increased support for regional centers of excellence for green technologies and innovation, and a multilateral fund to stimulate green innovations and enhance cooperation between countries.
