With the climate negotiations kicking off in Bangkok last week, there was much attention on producing an agreed basis for negotiations for all PAWP(Paris Agreement Work Programme) items. PAWP needs to be finalized by COP 24 which has lead to these added meetings on the process. PAWP shall be an effective toolset for implementation of climate agenda. In the light of this the technology mechanism of UNFCCC becomes an important factor as well. Within the UN Climate Change process, countries have confirmed the importance of enhancing technology development and transfer to developing countries. To facilitate this, in 2010 the Conference of the Parties established the Technology Mechanism. The Technology Executive Committee is the Technology Mechanism’s policy body and analyses issues and provides policy recommendations that support country efforts to enhance climate technology development and transfer.
The Technology Mechanism consists of two bodies: the Technology Executive Committee and the Climate Technology Centre and Network(CTCN). The implementation body of the Technology Mechanism is the CTCN. UN Environment hosts this entity in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization(UNIDO), and is further supported by several knowledge partners based in different locations across the world.
Asian Institute of Technology(Thailand)
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research(South Africa)
Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands(Netherlands)
UNEP DTU Partnership(Denmark)
World Agroforestry Centre(Kenya)
Therefore, we have institutions from Africa(4), Asia and Pacific(2), Europe(6), South America(2), North America(1). While there should be more partners coming together in Asia and Pacific region, CTCN contributes with the following services to speed up the development and transfer of technologies.
Providing technical assistance at the request of developing countries on technology issues
Creating access to information and knowledge on climate technologies
Fostering collaboration among climate technology stakeholders via its network of regional and sectoral experts
It should be interesting to look at how young practitioners are included in these platforms. It is encouraging to see AIT being an academic institution included in the list of partners. In a following article we will discuss the contribution of these entities in different sectors of implementation.