Developing countries are striving to blaze a trail in economic and social development by greening their economy at a time when the world is suffering from a double whammy, both on the financial and climate fronts.

Green economy is part of developing countries' efforts to revive the economy after the current slowdown and mitigate the impact of global warming, for which industrialized nations are historically responsible.

However, developing countries' strenuous green efforts may yield limited results without developed countries taking the lead in cutting greenhouse gas emissions and honoring their commitments to support developing countries with funds and technology transfers.

Green efforts

Green economy generally refers to a sustained growth model which features environment-friendly technologies, more use of renewable resources and low emissions.

Major developing countries have been sparing no efforts in developing green economy, which is widely regarded as a viable way of restoring job growth, reducing poverty and achieving a more sustainable economy.

China has been building up hydro, nuclear, solar and wind power capacities in a bid to increase renewable energy consumption to 10 percent by 2010 and 15 percent by 2020.

By 2008, according to the Global Wind Energy Council, China had the largest wind turbines fleet in Asia, with a total power-generating capacity of 12.21 million kilowatts, which ranked the fourth in the world.

The Chinese government's incentives policies brought about more than 600 solar cell companies, mostly privately-owned, which manufacture 44 percent of the world's total cells for solar power devices.

"China has already adopted the most aggressive energy-efficiency program in the entire world," said U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke in July during his China tour upon being told that almost 40 percent of China's 4 trillion-yuan (US$586 billion) economic stimulus package had gone to green projects.

In Brazil, the government has been focusing on the research and development of renewable energy since the 1970s and has achieved remarkable results.

To encourage the use of biofuel, the government announced a plan to boost nationwide production and use of biodiesel in 2003. The project lifted many agricultural households out of poverty by purchasing their produce and providing seeds, farm tools and technical support.

Thanks to the country's application of a variety of renewable energies and its arduous efforts to protect its rain forest, the carbon dioxide emission in Brazil has been reduced 2 billion tons over the past four years.

In developing a low carbon economy, India unveiled a national action plan on climate change last year with a focus on harnessing renewable energy.

The Indian government is also preparing a renewable energy policy that proposes to increase the target for electricity generation from renewable energy to 10 percent by 2010 and 20 percent by 2020 of the total electricity generation in the country.