Improving Green Competitiveness for Inclusive Transformation

This informal input paper, prepared for the G20 Working Group on Trade and Investment by the African Future Policies Hub, Lead-IT, and the World Resources Institute, advocates for a shift from nationalistic green industrial policies toward "cooperative green competitiveness." The report outlines strategies for inclusive green industrialisation, emphasizing the role of industrial clusters, regional cooperation, and reformed climate finance to ensure developing countries are integrated into global green value chains without repeating past patterns of resource exploitation.

• The report argues that achieving inclusive energy transitions requires moving away from traditional competitive models that prioritize national interests toward "cooperative green competitiveness." This approach suggests disaggregating energy-intensive production, such as steel, by placing those stages in regions with abundant renewable energy to improve efficiency and create roles for developing countries in green value chains.
• To avoid repeating historical patterns of resource exploitation, the report states that transition mineral supply chains must provide meaningful benefits to developing countries. While some may benefit from local refining and processing, the report notes that this depends on stable infrastructure, skilled labor, and economies of scale; therefore, G20 cooperation should support "country-specific strategies" that may prioritize infrastructure or economic diversification over refining.
• The document proposes a shift from simple technology transfer to a holistic sharing of know-how, citing the Industrial Transition Partnerships (ITP) between India and Sweden as a template. It suggests that national support for domestic green companies should be linked to explicit commitments to share technology and knowledge to avoid steering industrializing regions toward carbon-intensive pathways.
• The report suggests that jurisdictions implementing carbon pricing or carbon border trade measures should create co-innovation and green technology diffusion funds. These funds, potentially managed with regional banks like Afreximbank, would recycle carbon pricing revenues back into developing economies to catalyze green industrialisation.
• Industrial clusters are recommended to create ecosystems of complementary capabilities, bringing supply chains closer to production (e.g., EV value chains near lithium mining). These clusters can reduce costs through shared infrastructure, open-source technologies, and aggregated demand for renewable energy, which increases bargaining power for procurement.
• The report emphasizes the role of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) in providing long-term concessional capital and addressing currency mismatches that expose borrower countries to foreign exchange risks. It highlights the Türkiye Industrial Decarbonisation Investment Platform, a partnership between EBRD, the World Bank Group, and IFC, which aims to deploy $5 billion in investments by 2030.
• Regional cooperation is identified as a key driver for green competitiveness, utilizing existing frameworks such as the European Union (EU), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Mercosur, and the African Green Industrialisation Initiative (AGII) to align environmental standards and technological innovation.

APA

African Future Policies Hub (2025). Improving Green Competitiveness for Inclusive Transformation. https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/b2d05cc3-7b8c-4f0d-a62a-66af7434f28f/downloads/db3d2377-57b3-4d50-938d-c0a5cfc1030f/Improving%20Green%20Competitiveness%20for%20Inclusive%20.pdf?ver=1780902966003

Chicago

African Future Policies Hub. Improving Green Competitiveness for Inclusive Transformation. 2025. https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/b2d05cc3-7b8c-4f0d-a62a-66af7434f28f/downloads/db3d2377-57b3-4d50-938d-c0a5cfc1030f/Improving%20Green%20Competitiveness%20for%20Inclusive%20.pdf?ver=1780902966003.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=African Future Policies Hub |title=Improving Green Competitiveness for Inclusive Transformation |date=May 2025 |url=https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/b2d05cc3-7b8c-4f0d-a62a-66af7434f28f/downloads/db3d2377-57b3-4d50-938d-c0a5cfc1030f/Improving%20Green%20Competitiveness%20for%20Inclusive%20.pdf?ver=1780902966003 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{africanfuturepolicieshub2025improving, author = {{African Future Policies Hub}}, title = {{Improving Green Competitiveness for Inclusive Transformation}}, institution = {African Future Policies Hub}, year = {2025}, month = may, url = {https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/b2d05cc3-7b8c-4f0d-a62a-66af7434f28f/downloads/db3d2377-57b3-4d50-938d-c0a5cfc1030f/Improving%20Green%20Competitiveness%20for%20Inclusive%20.pdf?ver=1780902966003}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }