Engineering News quoted Dr Andre Roux director of Institute for Future Research at the University of Stellenbosch as saying that developing economies could play a significant role in assisting in the global economic recovery.

He said that "Developing countries had now moved onto the list of the world's top 10 largest economies, with China taking second place, after the US, India taking fourth, Russia taking eight place and Brazil rounding off ten. By 2030, India would have an economy more or less the size of the US economy, while China's economy would be larger than that of the US. The larger economies would assist the first world countries in reaching their goals and developing countries were financing America’s household and government debt."

Dr Roux noted that the world population is currently 6.8 billion people and is expected to rise to between 8 billion and 9 billion by 2029. The world economy, demand on resources, and global warming was expected to move in the same pattern. He added that "These figures are all telling us that sustainability is becoming a major problem."

He estimated that by 2030, the global energy demand would be up by 70% when compared with the demand in 2000, while a 50% increase in demand would come from countries such as India and China. He said that "Fortunately, we have realized that renewable energy could account for up to 35% of our total global energy needs."

He noted that the current economic recession had also taught a lesson that good governance was good for business. He said that "We realized that the global market is unable to manage itself, and some type of government involvement is called for. Very importantly, we also realized that the US and Europe could no longer set the global agenda on their own. They have to involve China, India, Brazil and even South Africa."

(Sourced from www.engineeringnews.co.za)