Innovative Tech Transformations: Shaping Green and Eco-Friendly Products Technology, Sustainability and the Limits of Technological Solutions in Developed and Developing Economies

Author

Muskan Arora, Suvansh Shankar


Abstract

 Technology has been the engine of human progress and, at the same time, the principal driver of the ecological crisis that now threatens it. This paper asks whether technological transformation alone can deliver sustainable development, focusing on green and eco-friendly products. It traces the history of green technology, distinguishes end-of-pipe from clean technologies through the Bhopal Gas Disaster, and analyses the technology-transfer obligations in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement. Using the economics of demand and supply, it explains why electric vehicles have spread rapidly in Norway and California but slowly in developing countries, drawing on India's policy experience and Sri Lanka's organic-farming crisis of 2021–22. A section on recent developments surveys legislative, judicial and treaty changes, including the International Court of Justice's 2025 advisory opinion on climate change, the outcomes of COP28 to COP30, India's Carbon Credit Trading Scheme, the Supreme Court of India's recognition of a right against the adverse effects of climate change, and the retreat from electric-vehicle subsidies in parts of the developed world. The paper concludes that technological change is necessary but not sufficient: sustainability also requires social change, well-designed policy and predictable international finance.



Keywords

green technology; sustainable development; electric vehicles; technology transfer; climate law; developing countries; India



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References


  • Change social norms and attitudes.For green products to be widely used, social norms must shift in favour of sustainability and environmental consciousness. This calls for consumer education and awareness campaigns, together with credible labelling, that make clear the benefits of eco-friendly products and the effect of consumer behaviour on the environment.
  • Balance necessary and sustainable development.Because their resources are scarce, developing nations must strike a balance between meeting basic needs and pursuing sustainability. Transitions should be gradual, sequenced and piloted, supported by training and finance, and should avoid abrupt bans that outrun the country's capacity, as the Sri Lankan experience shows.
  • Provide reliable finance and technology from industrialised nations.Developing nations can concentrate on sustainable development only when they receive financial and technological assistance from industrialised nations. The commitments under Article 4(5) of the UNFCCC, the Baku finance goal and the Belém Technology Implementation Programme should be translated into measurable, reported delivery, in line with the duty of cooperation affirmed by the International Court of Justice.
  • Prefer clean technology to end-of-pipe controls, and enforce the controls that remain.Policy should favour processes that avoid creating pollutants, and where control equipment is necessary, regulators should ensure that it is operated, inspected and penalised for non-compliance, so that the lesson of Bhopal is not repeated.
  • Offer stable and well-targeted incentives.Incentives should be predictable over a multi-year horizon, and designed for the income distribution of the country concerned, as India's emphasis on two- and three-wheelers and public transport illustrates.

Sustainable development is ultimately a social and political achievement, and technology is its instrument and not its substitute.

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