NAIROBI
Developing countries have invested heavily in green technology, causing the south-south renewables' trade to grow faster than global trade, a new report by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) revealed Wednesday.
Speaking at the launch of the report, UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner referred to a widely-held belief that environmental goods and services could potentially harm the economies of developing states, because they cannot have a competitive edge against goods and services based on industrial technology.
“This is why this report is important," Steiner said. "It turns this argument on its head."
He said not only does the volume of south-south trade grow so rapidly, but also the environmental goods and services trade will be hitting $1.9 trillion by 2020.
Titled, "South-South Trade in Renewable Energy: A Trade Flow Analysis of Selected Environmental Goods", the report dwells on the renewables trade and services in developing countries.
Steiner said renewable energy technologies represent a fast-growing market, which contributes to the south-south environmental goods and services trade.
The UNEP Executive Director added that modern renewable energy technologies are important in that they reduce greenhouse gases and other environmentally-unfriendly materials.
“They are critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing rural and off-grid energy access and improving energy security, as well as creating jobs and livelihood opportunities,” Steiner said.
He said the new report highlights the need for targeted investments, enabling policies and capacity-building to support the global transition to a low-carbon, resource-efficient green economy.
The report says that more than 700 million people benefit from clean drinking water equipment acquired from renewable energy markets.
It adds that some of the equipment helps in water treatment and supply and that solar products, especially photo voltaic cells, dominate the south-south renewable energy trade.
"South-south trade also has an organic food and beverage market worth $63 billion," the report says.
Steiner, meanwhile, told Anadolu Agency that much of this trade was dominated by China and other Asian countries.
"However, other countries are catching up," he said. “If you look at Africa, for example, from 2009 to 2013, it [the continent] has imported around $342 million in wind-powered equipment."
Steiner said that this field is now dominated by South Africa, Ethiopia and Egypt.
“China has exported photo voltaic cells to countries in Africa to the tune of $869 million since 2009," Steiner said, noting that South Africa is taking the lions share in this regard.
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