Many of the cutting-edge technologies in areas such as wind and solar power and waste treatment have been developed by rich world scientists and companies in Europe and the US, and many of the most fertile places for their adoption are in emerging markets such as China and India. European and American science combined with efficient and cheap Chinese manufacturing should be a powerful combination. But experts say that, with the issue of trade in environmental goods and services mired in mistrust between rich countries and poor, much potential is being lost. And though traditional trade barriers such as import tariffs are not having a huge effect in blocking such international commerce, suspicion over the protection of intellectual property certainly is.
風能、太陽能和廢品處理等領域的尖端技術，許多是由歐美富裕國家的科學家和企業開發的，而應用這些技術的最肥沃土壤大多位于新興市場，比如中國和印度。歐美科學再加上廉價高效的中國制造本應是一個強大的組合。但專家們表示，由于環保商品和服務貿易被富國與窮國間的互不信任所困，很多潛力正在消失。此外，雖然進口關稅等傳統貿易壁壘不會給這類國際貿易設置太大障礙，但知識產權保護引發的疑慮肯定會帶來很多困擾。