Poor countries seek technology to brace for climate change

To accelerate technology development and transfer will be essential for developing countries to achieve climate change goals

Technology is a critical means by which countries rich and poor can adapt to and mitigate climate change. Indeed, technology will be the key to averting catastrophic climate change in this century. Through the development and deployment of clean and climate-friendly technologies, the world can adopt a powerful, integrated approach to tackling climate change and promoting sustainable development.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has already announced the heartening news that the portfolio of technologies necessary for achieving global climate goals is – or will become – available. But these technologies are largely located in the industrial countries. Developing countries - those that are most vulnerable to climate change - currently have the least access to these technologies. The essence of the challenge, then, is to sharply accelerate technology development and transfer.

Beijing Conference calls for wave of technological transformation

Only effective international cooperation can achieve the wave of technological transformation that developing countries need to address climate change over the coming decades, according to participants attending the Beijing High-level Conference on Climate Change:  Technology Development and Technology Transfer that concluded on 8 November 2008. The meeting was held in the run-up to the next Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Poznan, Poland in December 2008.  More than 30 ministerial-level representatives, four heads of United Nations agencies, and representatives from over 67 countries participated.

Opening the two-day meeting, China’s Premier Wen Jiabao urged developed countries to transfer climate-friendly technologies to China and other developing countries, and he called on the international community to establish a fund and mechanism for overcoming technology transfer barriers.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his message to the Conference, stressed the importance of making newer and cleaner technology available across the globe. “New thinking and specific measures are necessary to remove existing barriers to clean technology transfer and diffusion. Clean technologies have proven their worth again and again,” he said.

Many of the 800 participants attending the meeting stressed the need to provide early sharing of technologies as they develop so they can be adapted to differing climates and national settings. They also highlighted the need to accelerate, in a systematic way, the diffusion of advanced technologies in the market globally. A statement and summary accepted at the conclusion of the conference emphasizes the “need to accelerate research, development, deployment and transfer of technologies”, in order to address the challenges posed by climate change.

During the conference, participants discussed the status of clean technologies, the barriers to transfer, as well as mechanisms to overcome them. Public-private cooperation and partnerships were highlighted as a key to the deployment in the marketplace where the majority of the investments will be made. Participants also highlighted that the scale of the climate change challenge calls for new and innovative mechanisms of international cooperation, particularly in the fields of research, development, transfer and deployment of climate related technologies.

“Of particular value at this Conference was that experts, policy-makers and other stakeholders engaged each other on critical issues, away from the constraints of the negotiating table,” said Sha Zukang, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs. “We saw areas where real differences persist, but also areas of common interest and possible convergence,” he added.

“I am confident that the Conference will contribute positively to the forthcoming climate change negotiations in Poznan in December,” said Zie Zhenhua, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission of China.

Challenges for developing countries to combat climate change

Developing countries are the most at risk from climate change and have the most at stake at Poznan and beyond. They are also the least prepared for and least able to afford adaptation to climate change. For them, therefore, the stakes in technology transfer are enormous and often a matter of life and death, particularly in such countries as small island developing states and those of the drought-ridden Sahel.

Technology transfer obligations and commitments of countries are set out in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol. The Bali Action Plan also singles out technology transfer as a key area for further progress on the road to a new agreement on climate at Copenhagen in 2009.

World leaders have recognized that concerted global action is a prerequisite for stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions at safe levels. Technology is one area that unites the interests of developed and developing countries. All countries have an interest in the rapid development, deployment and diffusion of climate-friendly technologies – thereby enhancing country capacities to take effective mitigation actions and pursue adaptation strategies.

Moving to action in technology transfer

But the question remains – can we move from recognition of shared interests to action? How do we reckon with such tough issues as who should transfer what, to whom, and at what price?

It is well known that technology development and transfer is a broad, multifaceted topic. Four considerations should guide further global action on technology transfer. First, it should be clear that hardware supply is only the most visible facet of technology transfer. To this, one must add complex processes of sharing knowledge, know-how and adapting technology to meeting local conditions. Second, the approach followed by countries should be comprehensive, meaning that it should consider both mitigation and adaptation technologies. Sometimes adaptation technologies are neglected in favour of more well-known and easily-identified mitigation technologies. Third, the discussion of technology transfer should be guided and informed by a clear understanding of the status of development of key technologies. Fourth, countries should seek to analyze and then identify the major barriers and obstacles to transfer and diffusion of clean and climate-friendly technologies. In other words, their approach must be practical.

Available technologies and innovation

Regarding the portfolio of available technologies, one should differentiate between: (i) mature technologies, with a proven record of deployment; (ii) state-of-the-art technologies, which are nearly ready for large-scale deployment; and (iii) technologies still under development.

Energy efficiency technologies are technically mature, and energy efficiency is repeatedly singled out as one of the most important near-term mitigation options. It has the potential to contribute towards both climate and other goals, such as improving air quality. According to analysis by the International Energy Agency, end-use electricity efficiency and fuel efficiency have the potential to reduce energy-related carbon dioxide emissions by 47 per cent in 2030. In this regard, China’s policy of reducing the energy intensity of its economy by 20 per cent, between 2005 and 2010, is a noteworthy step.

Renewable technologies, such as wind and solar, are also examples of technologies that are mature and available in the market. Economies of scale will bring down prices, and performance improvements will occur. Appropriate policy support is required in order to secure the place of renewable technologies in the energy mix.

Firms from developing countries are innovating and amassing market share in the field of renewable energy. For instance, Suntech, a Chinese firm, has become a leader on solar PV, based on a combination of its own technologies with that purchased from developed countries.

State-of-the-art technologies include high-pressure coal combustion plants and hybrid vehicle technology. Significant additional R&D, and demonstration at scale, are required for mitigation technologies such as second-generation biofuels, hydrogen fuel cells for cars, grid-connected solar photovoltaics, and carbon capture and storage (CCS).

CCS is of major concern, given the reliance of many developed and developing countries on coal. The lack of funding and incentives for full-scale and demonstration projects constitutes a major barrier. At present, the necessary technical expertise and know-how is largely in the hands of a small number of firms based in developed countries. Further delay would mean that the technology essentially comes too late to make the needed difference.

At the far end of the spectrum are new technologies which might emerge from the discovery of new materials, the development of new equipment and methods, and the identification and development of new fuels. This will require a major push on research and development (R&D). Technology cooperation between developed and developing countries, and increasingly between developing countries, will need to be significantly enhanced. Similarly, it will be necessary to catalyze the complementary roles of the public and private sectors in technology development and technology transfer.

Barriers for technology development and transfer

What are the critical barriers impeding technology development and technology transfer? For developing countries, one of the most significant barriers is that, at current costs, the energy services from climate-friendly technologies are too costly for the vast majority of their populations. In addition, capital shortages and high capital costs are still commonplace in many developing countries – a situation exacerbated by the current financial crisis.

Other barriers include market conditions, inappropriate fiscal and regulatory policies, lack of access to information, the condition of infrastructure, and weak human resource capacities.

The legal and regulatory frameworks can promote and enable – or slow – technology development and transfer. In this respect, views differ sharply on whether prevailing international intellectual property rights protections constitute genuine barriers to technology transfer and diffusion. Certainly, the rationale for intellectual property rights is to promote innovation. But perhaps by now, the pendulum has swung too far - from protection to protectionism.

On the eve of the next Conference of Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Poznan, Poland, tough negotiations between governments on these hard issues still lie ahead. Through well-informed substantive discussions, countries will need to confront head on these thorny issues, which simply will not go away. Only by enlightened negotiation, with the welfare of all of humanity in mind, can nations rich and poor ensure that, ultimately, a binding outcome emerges from the subsequent Copenhagen Conference of Parties in 2009 - an outcome that enables a climate for human survival in the decades to come.

For more information: http://www.ccchina.gov.cn/BjCTC/en/ and http://unfccc.int/2860.php