(Feb. 27, 2010) Clean technologies are a $1-trillion per year global industry. Who will snatch this prize by being among the clean tech leaders?

The United Arab Emirates is “in the forefront as a global pioneer of green technologies,” stated His Excellency Dr. Salem M. Al Dhaheri, Director-General of the country’s Federal Environmental Agency.

“India could achieve lower carbon emissions while becoming a world leader in green technologies,” according to the World Economic Forum’s India Economic Summit.

The Central African Republic was rated tops in sustainable environmental development, according to The Ecologist magazine, beating out runner-ups Bolivia and Mongolia.

“Brazil is the global leader in the use of renewable fuels,” according to Energy Business Reports.

“China is Leading Global Race to Make Clean Energy,” stated a headline in The New York Times.

“Finland is ranked the world’s leading country in environmental sustainability according to the World Economic Forum’s Environmental Sustainability Index,” reported Invest in Finland, an agency funded by Finland’s Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Iceland are also winners, not surprising since the Nordic countries as a bloc are green leaders, just as Southeast Asia and other supra-national regions of the world lead in green.  

Continents can also lead in green. “Europe is a global leader,” explained EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson. “We can literally export the tools and expertise to tackle climate change worldwide.” North America is a leader here, too. As is Asia, “a world leader in developing and installing a vast array of clean, efficient, renewable energy technologies,” explains Rajendra Pachauri, the head of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “A combination of solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and biomass technologies are bringing power, heating and light to millions who have never benefited from reliable access to energy.”

Leadership can also be found at the sub-national level, as in the Club of 20 Regions (R20), founded in December to fast-track the results of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference by leaders such as California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger,

Premier Jean Charest of Quebec, Governor Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan of Nigeria’s Delta State, Environmental Minister Cherif Rahmani of Algeria, and President Jean Paul Huchon of Region Ile-de-France, France.

Among sub-national leaders, Quebec especially stands out, explained Quebec leader Jean Charest: “Québec is known as a leader among sub-national states when it comes to mitigating greenhouse gases and adapting to the impacts of climate change.”       

Canada, in fact, is blessed with many sub-national leaders. Ontario “is taking steps to become North America’s greenest economy,” announced a report last year by Sustainable Development Technology Canada, a government funded agency. “Manitoba is a global leader in finding solutions to climate change that make good economic and good environmental sense,” opined a Manitoba Minister of Energy, Science and Technology. British Columbia is “ready to lead Canada in reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” boasts a government website. Newfoundland and Labrador, Premier Danny Williams explains, is no less a leader. Little wonder that “Canada is a world leader in the use of renewable energy and has one of the cleanest electricity supply mixes in the world,” as the government of Canada puts it.

So too are U.S. sub-nationals blessed with world leadership. Not just California but Colorado, Michigan, Utah, New York, Oregon, Texas and Washington State.

Sub-sub nationals around the world can be leaders, too. The small region of Styria in Austria, home to more than 150 cleantech companies, bills itself as Europe’s Green Tech Valley. Finland’s Cleantech Cluster in Lahti boasts a network of 250 cleantech companies. The San Diego region’s 650 cleantech companies make it another global leader in cleantech. Cleantech clusters at the sub-sub national level abound elsewhere, too: in Syracuse, NY, and New England, in Greater Stockholm and in cities and neighbourhoods around the world, maybe even yours.

Kermit the Frog famously said, “It’s not that easy being green.” He was wrong.