Warsaw, 21 November 2013 - One year after the 18th Climate Change Conference selected a consortium led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) to host a facility to accelerate the development and transfer of climate-related technology and expertise to developing countries, the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) is now officially open for business.
The CTCN, the operational arm of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Technology Mechanism, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve resilience to changing weather patterns, drought, soil erosion, and other impacts of climate change in developing nations.
This goal will be achieved by assisting developing countries to make informed decisions about mitigation and adaptation technologies that suit their needs.
The consortium includes the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and 11 other international research and development bodies.
"As nations put in the foundations, walls and ceiling of a new, wide-ranging and universal climate agreement, the Climate Technology Centre and Network represents a further building block towards that low-carbon future," said UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.
"This facility will make a substantive contribution to accelerating the use of existing and new technologies that can improve the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in developing countries who are dealing with the impacts of climate change on a daily basis," he added.
At the 2010 Climate Change Conference in Cancun, countries agreed on a new Technology Mechanism to improve the development and transfer of climate-related technology, encompassing energy efficiency, renewable energy, early-warning systems, and other fields.
The CTCN aims to overcome the historic challenges of mobilizing funds and eliminating policy and technical barriers to promote accelerated, diversified and scaled-up transfer of environmentally sound technologies for climate change mitigation and adaptation, consistent with the national socio-economic and sustainable development priorities of the requesting countries.
"UNIDO is highly pleased to be co-leading this important initiative with UNEP," said Li Yong, Director General of UNIDO. "Technology transfer will be a key issue for SMEs all over the world to help them cope with the effects of climate change, but also to meet the overall requirements of inclusive and sustainable industrial development".
Expected outcomes of the CTCN's work are reduced greenhouse gas emission intensity and climate vulnerability as well as improved local innovative capacities. Private and public investment in adaptation and mitigation will be mobilized on a greater scale and collaboration and peer learning on technology transfer and deployment across and within developing countries will be the norm.
As of this month 35 countries, 24 of them developing, have nominated their National Designated Entities-focal points who will submit requests on mitigation and adaptation technologies to the CTCN-demonstrating that interest is already strong and uptake of the CTCN's services is expected to be high.
To prepare these focal points to exercise their roles, the CTCN will over the next five months conduct a series of regional training sessions, starting in Thailand in December.
"The CTCN is a product of all parties coming together and creating an operational entity that will support developing countries as they work to accelerate the development and transfer of climate technologies," said Griff Thompson, US State Department, and Chair of the CTCN Advisory Board. "Through the Center we will translate the rhetoric of climate technology into the realities of technology development, transfer and adoption. We are confident that the CTCN will fulfill the promise and potential of its mandate."
About the CTCN
Located in Copenhagen, Denmark, the CTCN has three core functions:
- Manage and respond to requests from developing countries;
- Foster collaboration and access to information and knowledge to accelerate technology transfer;
- Strengthen networks, partnerships and capacity building for climate technology transfer.
The CTCN is guided by an Advisory Board with representatives from developing and developed countries, various UNFCCC committee members as well as representatives from Environmental NGOs, Business and Academia.
Members of the UNEP-led consortium include:
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO);
Asian Institute of Technology (Thailand);
Bariloche Foundation (Argentina);
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (South Africa);
The Energy and Resources Institute (India);
Environment and Development Action in the Third World (Senegal);
Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (Costa Rica);
World Agroforestry Centre (Kenya);
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (Germany);
Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (United States);
United Nations Environment Programme Risø Centre (Denmark).
Visit http://www.unep.org/climatechange/ctcn/ for more.
