In recent years, the paradigm change toward a global green economy has been gaining speed. More than 110 countries, many of them in the low and middle income groups, have pledged to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 or earlier. More importantly, major players have substantiated their plans by finance and pathways to implementation. These transformative policy reforms will leave no country unaffected. They open up windows of opportunity for new economic activities, employment and competitive advantages.

Latecomers to the globalised economy can use the new opportunities to catch-up with leading economies, but timing and sequencing of suitable reforms is far from trivial and requires a sound evidence basis. Aalborg University, German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), Oxford University and Università di Pavia have addressed this need by publishing a Special Issue of World Development and a Special Section of Industrial and Corporate Change, to structure the debate, add to evidence, and inform policymakers in search of the right coping strategies. These present a unique set of case studies on green economic opportunities, spanning a wide range of economic activities.

We cordially invite you to our presentation and discussion of main results on 1 June 2021, 16:00-17:30 CET, online. Editors Rasmus Lema, Xiaolan Fu, and Roberta Rabellotti will present their Special Section on “Green windows of opportunity: latecomer development in the age of transformation toward sustainability”, and editors Tilman Altenburg and Anna Pegels will present their Special Issue on “Latecomer development in a greening world”.

Speakers

• Tilman Altenburg is Head of the Research Programme “Transformation of Economic and Social Systems” at the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), Bonn, Germany. His research focuses on green industrial policy, sustainability oriented innovations, and private sector development in developing and emerging countries.
• Xiaolan Fu is Founding Director of the Technology and Management Centre for Development (TMCD) and Professor of Technology and International Development, University of Oxford. Her research interests include innovation and technology policy and management; trade, foreign direct investment and economic development.
• Rasmus Lema (PhD IDS University of Sussex) is associate professor at Aalborg University Business School. His is an elected member of the governing board at the Global Network for the Economics of Learning, Innovation and Competence Building Systems (Globelics) and he is an editor of the journal Innovation and Development. He is a frequent advisor to government agencies across the developing world. His research is focused on innovation and development, with a particular focus on the green transformation.
• Anna Pegels is Senior Researcher at the German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE). Her work focuses on green industrial policy, sustainable behaviours, and the transition to a circular economy in developing and emerging countries.
• Roberta Rabellotti is Professor of Economics at the University of Pavia, Italy. She regularly provides academic advice to EC, IADB, OECD, UNIDO, ECLAC-UN, and UNCTAD.