Technology and Innovation for a Green Economy

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12020
• Published date: 01 April 2013
• Date: 01 April 2013
• Author: Derek Eaton

Technology and Innovation for a Green Economy

Derek Eaton

This article discusses the role that innovation plays in

the transition to a green economy, with special atten-

tion paid to the importance of diffusion and transfer of

technologies. The article first describes the origins and

conceptual foundations of a transition to a green

economy, concentrating on the initiative launched by

the United Nations Environment Programme, and

leading to the United Nations Conference on Sustain-

able Development in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012

(Rio+20). The article then reviews the critical role of

innovation in the reconfiguration of the economy’s

capital stock, leading to a discussion of the roles of

both innovation and environmental policy in promot-

ing such technological change. It next discusses the

channels for international transfer of technologies and

their relationship to the international policy architec-

ture, and proposes that international discussions con-

cerning technology transfer, particularly those related

to environmental technologies, have suffered from a

lack of coherence in policy positions, based probably

on a fundamental misunderstanding of the economic

nature of these processes.

INTRODUCTION

In June 2012, the United Nations Conference on Sus-

tainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) was con-

vened in Rio de Janeiro. The two principal themes

were: a green economy in the context of sustainable

development and poverty eradication; and the institu-

tional framework for sustainable development.1The

latter, including questions such as the mandate and

role of the United Nations Environment Programme

(UNEP), was a relatively obvious topic for the agenda,

given the different perspectives among governments

and other stakeholders on the institutional architec-

ture for promoting sustainable development. A general

dissatisfaction among environmental stakeholders

with the progress made towards achieving sustainable

development and implementing Agenda 21 also pro-

vided a basis for examining the nature and configura-

tion of relevant international bodies and agreements.

In contrast, it was somewhat surprising that the topic of

a green economy was selected by the General Assembly

as a topic for the conference.2The concept of ‘green

economy’ had not been discussed or defined in inter-

national negotiations prior to that decision, which

contrasts with the manner in which the concept

of ‘sustainable development’ was elaborated by the

Brundtland Commission some years prior to the

holding of the United Nations Conference on Environ-

ment and Development in Rio in 1992. The term ‘green

economy’ had been somewhat popularized prior to that

first Rio conference through the publication in 1989 of

a book by three economists, though this did not enter

into international discourse until 2009.3In that year,

UNEP launched its Green Economy Initiative, building

on the attention it had received in 2008 in proposing a

Global Green New Deal.4This consisted of a policy pro-

gramme to orient fiscal stimulus packages that were

mobilized to address the financial and economic crisis

towards environmental objectives. In 2011, UNEP pub-

lished the Green Economy Report – an analysis com-

missioned from a global team of experts on the

potential to reduce the environmental impacts of eco-

nomic development. The report analyzed these oppor-

tunities for a number of sectors, some defined in

traditional economic terms (e.g., agriculture, manufac-

turing and tourism) and others characterized by the

natural resource base (e.g., forestry, fisheries, water,

waste management).

UNEP proposed a definition of ‘green economy’ as an

economy that ‘results in improved human well-being

and social equity, while significantly reducing environ-

mental risks and ecological scarcities’.5More important

from an economic point of view is the elaboration that

‘in a green economy, growth in income and employ-

ment are driven by public and private investments

that reduce carbon emissions and pollution, enhance

energy and resource efficiency, and prevent the loss of

1Implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Imple-

mentation of Agenda 21 and the Outcomes of the World Summit on

Sustainable Development (UNGA Resolution A/RES/64/236, 24

December 2009), at paragraph 20(a).

2Ibid.

3D.W. Pearce, A. Markandya and E. Barbier, Blueprint for a Green

Economy (Earthscan, 1989). See also the contribution by Elisa

Morgera and Annalisa Savaresi in this issue.

4United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), Global Green

New Deal: Policy Brief. (UNEP, 2009). See also E.B. Barbier, A

Global Green New Deal: Rethinking the Economic Recovery (Cam-

bridge University Press, 2010).

5UNEP, Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Devel-

opment and Poverty Alleviation (UNEP, 2011), at 16.

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Review of European Community & International Environmental Law

RECIEL 22 (1) 2013. ISSN 0962-8797

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