Green Growth Innovation for Developing Countries

The capacity for clean technology innovation and technological expertise is spreading across the developing world. Technology innovation and diffusion have shifted away from a unidirectional north-south flow and the majority of scalable clean technology innovation is taking place in emerging economies, with very little taking place elsewhere. The challenge is to ensure that least developed countries do not miss out on this technological transformation.

On May 17, Global Economy and Development at Brookings hosted a discussion on how international organizations can help fill capacity building and financing gaps in clean technology innovation in developing and least developed countries. Panelists included Tim Richards, managing director for International Energy Policy at General Electric Company; Alfred Watkins, executive chairman of the Global Innovation Summit; Dr. Romain Murenzi, executive director of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World; and Brookings Nonresident Fellow Nathan Hultman, director of the Environmental Policy Program at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. Brookings Senior Fellow Katherine Sierra moderated the discussion.