Invest more in Environmentally Sound Technologies, UN Environment Report cautions Developing States

BY SAMUEL NABWIISO

Developing Countries have been urged to venture into trading in environmentally sound technologies that can foster new industries thus creating new, jobs, and income growth in developing countries, a new global study suggests.

The research, featured in the report 'Trade in Environmentally Sound Technologies: Perspectives from Developing Countries’, highlights the importance of developing countries for future trade in environmentally sounds technologies and the need for their increased involvement in mitigating climate change .

Environmentally sound technologies, often also referred to as “clean technologies”, are a subset of environmental goods, defined as goods that directly contribute to environmental protection and climate change mitigation.

Solar pannesl ready for production , the report wants Developing Countries to invest in such technologies in order to protect the Environment 

Good example of such technologies includes solar power plants Electrical vehicles among other technologies that release no green House in the Atmosphere. The UnEnvironmnet report comes at a time when the whole world is battling with the effects associated with climate change.

 The report identifies developing countries that have transited from net importers to net exporters of clean technologies by embracing international trade and investment, which has enabled them to build up their technology and production capacity.

As a result, new green industries have emerged as well as growth in incomes and job creation, thus demonstrating how trade in environmentally sound technologies can offer a triple win for the environment, economy and society.

The research suggests other developing countries have the potential to achieve similar outcomes with the necessary domestic policies and technological effort. In this respect, the report recommends that initiatives to support the trade in clean technologies at the international level should be supported by measures at the domestic level, including through capacity building and technical assistance.

“The findings from this study offer important insights that can support and enable developing countries to objectively assess and understand the opportunities, benefits and challenges of liberalized trade in clean technologies. Investing in trade, innovation and use of clean technologies can drive sustainable development by tackling climate change, building resilience and supporting the achievement of the Global Goals and the Paris Agreement” said Anja von Moltke from UN Environment said

The report, published by UN Environment’s Environment and Trade Hub, Oxford University’s Technology and Management Centre for Development and the Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology suggests that building knowledge and capacity is critical to support developing countries in assessing the opportunities and challenges of the trade in clean technologies.

According to the report, this can help inform decision makers of the potential benefits of participating in specific trade negotiations. The analysis also points to the importance of reducing or eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers to catalyze greater participation by developing countries’ in value chains, thus bolstering economic and environmental resilience and driving sustainable development.

“Through trade in clean technologies, developing countries also have access to the technologies and other intangible intellectual capital which are embedded in and transferred through the trade in these technologies,” explained Professor Xiaolan Fu of Oxford University.

The Reports comes at a time when   Some Developing Countries especially in the Sub-Saharan Africa are on the course to embrace environmentally sound technologies such as adopting the utilization of solar power as an alternative to Biomass, the latest to join   the group is Uganda; the Kampala Government has tried to encourage   investors to invest in solar Energy.

President after the commissioning of the Gomba solar power plant  

Recently President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Launched a 20MW plant which costed the Invest about UGX200 Million. The Gomba plant is the second to be commissioned in the Country the first mega solar power plant was commissioned in Soroti District in the Eastern Part of the Country.