Global Green Growth Institute and Brookings Institution, a U.S.-based think tank, are collaborating to help developing countries access key technologies that could boost their economic growth in an environmentally-friendly way.

GGGI executive director Richard Samans said the two organizations aimed to create a “pillar” for international technology cooperation between developed and developing markets.

“We are in the midst of identifying specific technology options or mechanisms, maybe more toward supporting and enabling a set of arrangements for emerging markets to easily access tech licensing on a more favorable basis,” Samans told The Korea Herald.

Their joint efforts also include helping developing countries develop technologies that have not yet been well applied there.

Samans, who is in charge of GGGI operations, said the two sides would be able to deliver results of their work ahead of the 2012 Pre-COP meeting on climate change in October in Seoul.

The GGGI also plans to sign a treaty with some 15 governments in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil next week to position itself as an official “plural-lateral” international organization in October.

This is part of efforts by the GGGI to be a “think and act tank,” not just a think tank, whose primary goal is to optimize green capability of emerging markets by offering win-win economic and environmental strategies.

As GGGI is set to become an international organization, it hopes to become a global public-private partnership platform where emerging markets can not only gain technological assistance and investment, but also become environmentally and socially sustainable for greater resource security and efficiency. 

“Out of that practical experience, we can learn from each other, and with our help and through collective experience, everyone ― North, South, East and West ― can learn how to generate economic growth and make social progress,” said the executive director.

He emphasized that PPP is especially important as it speeds up the movement of technologies between developed and developing countries, while enabling emerging markets to secure a blend of private and public finances.

However, challenges remain as the opportunity for such partnerships does not often come to poor countries due to barriers and the lack of economies of scale.

“GGGI would like to be the platform to crack some of impediments to PPP for emerging markets,” Samans said, by finding untapped opportunity in this space.

Also, through partnerships with the World Bank, which provides development finance, GGGI aims to provide investment analyses for emerging countries to better access finance.

The institute also provides advisement and research, and tries to answer questions by showing empirical evidence to policymakers on green economic planning.

Since its establishment in 2010, GGGI has produced notable results, such as in Ethiopia, which is keen on hydropower development and has adopted a strategy that was formulated with the institute’s analytical support.

“It was a very serious and rigorous strategy that defined win-win,” he said, as it provided options for the African country to improve water security and agriculture productivity, while mitigating carbon emissions.

Ten other governments are currently seeking advice from GGGI on green growth and technology.

By Park Hyong-ki (hkp@heraldcorp.com)