Green growth provides a means by which economic, environmental and social goals can be simultaneously achieved. It presents an opportunity to make existing industries more sustainable while at the same time encouraging new industries and a diversified economy. Technological innovation is essential to this transition, without innovation it will be very difficult and costly to address major environmental issues.
Addressing climate change while promoting economic growth requires the large-scale deployment of green technologies across key sectors such as power generation, transport and energy use. Although many of these technologies, such as wind and solar energy or hybrid and electric cars, are already available, they are often more costly than existing fossil fuel-based options, meaning either that further refinement is required or that new technologies must be developed. Investing in research and development (R&D), supporting commercialization, strengthening markets and fostering technology diffusion are all key policy actions required for the deployment of new technologies and innovations.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 9 and 17 call for action to foster innovation, with a special attention to the least developing countries, by enhancing scientific research, upgrading technological capabilities (SDG 9.5) and expanding international cooperation (SDG 17.6).
Explore green growth resources related to the SDGs:
SDG 9.5 Capacity building SDG 17.6International Cooperation