COP9
Ministerial Round Table 2
Technology, including technology use and
development and transfer of technologies
Context
To achieve the objective of the Convention both for mitigating the effects
of greenhouse gases emissions and for adapting to climate change, we
require technology use and development, and rapid and widespread transfer
of environmentally sound technologies (EST). These needs are particularly
crucial for developing countries, which are adversely affected by climate
change. However, as indicated by the various technical papers tabled
during this Conference, not much progress has been done. Hopes for accelerated
transfer and diffusion of EST has remained largely unfulfilled. Most
government equated transfer of technology with commercialization citing
private sector domain and IPR as the main reasons for such a failure.
As such, developing countries continue to be lacking in scientific capacity
to generate scientific inventions and produce technological innovations
and to adapt and absorb technologies.
Achievements under the Convention
The Convention recognized that transfer of technologies is the basic
element for developing country Parties to meet their commitments. This
is clearly stipulated under Article 4.7 of the Convention. To facilitate
such transfer, the Convention under Article 4.3 and 4.5 provides the
necessary guidance for Annex II countries to carry out their commitments
to ensure that transfer of technologies is carried out.
In this regard, the UNFCCC Reporting Guidelines contain a mandatory requirement
for Annex II Parties to provide information on technology transfer activities
including activities for financing access by developing countries to
soft and hard environmentally sound technologies.
We are therefore pleased that COP 7 has set up the Expert Group of Technology
Transfer to examine the effective means for transferring technologies.
We are also pleased that many developing country Parties have already
done their technology needs assessments.
Expectations
Although we have seen some progress in this area, we believed that there
are many more things that need and can be done to ensure faster rate
of transfer of technologies in particular adaptation and mitigation technologies.
Among them are:
i. providing financial support to meet the full incremental cost of implementing
all the technology needs identified by non- Annex I Parties,
ii. disseminating information regarding existing EST,
iii. establishing concrete programs such as joint research, access to
and development of technology;
iv. providing incentives to the private sectors in developed country
Parties to facilitate the transfer of technologies;
v. innovative financing of development and transfer of technologies;
vi. promotion of indigenous technologies; and
vii encourage the south-south cooperation in the transfer of technologies.
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