COP26 commits to low-carbon tech funding for developing nations
One of the far reaching decisions at the COP26 meeting was the agreement by developed nations to fund low-carbon technology for developing countries.
Nations, including Japan, the US, Korea, Germany and Spain announced funding commitments to support the work of the UN Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN), the implementation arm of the Technology Mechanism.
The meeting, hosted by the UK COP Presidency and the Danish and Chilean governments, focused on supporting developing countries to access technologies for both low-carbon and climate-resilient development. Government representatives discussed the need to prepare the necessary policy and regulatory foundations to support widespread technology innovation and deployment in developing countries.
“Better technologies in developing countries will be crucial to fulfilling climate change commitments. The CTCN, as the implementation arm of the Convention’s Technology Mechanism, will be central to facilitating the development and deployment of such transformative climate technologies,” said UN Environment Programme (UNEP) executive director, Inger Andersen.
“However, we have so far only tapped into a fraction of the CTCN’s potential. At this critical juncture for climate action, the global community can do a lot of good by strengthening the Technology Mechanism, as climate technology development and transfer offer tremendous opportunities for low-emission growth and resilient societies.”
The European Commission has historically been the largest donor to the CTCN while Germany, Korea and Japan on Wednesday all pledged further funds to the initiative.
“As important negotiations take place at COP26 to act and engage in a new impetus to address the fight against climate change, solutions on technology development and transfer will be of major importance,” said Elina Bardram, Head of the International policies Unit, Directorate General for Climate for the European Commission.
She encouraged further donors, including multilateral development banks and the private sector, to contribute.
“By helping to deploy technology in developing countries – at the rapid speed and massive scale that is urgently needed – the CTCN plays a critical role in supporting our collective ability to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goals,” commented Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Jonathan Pershing.
Article 10 of the Paris Agreement defines the role of technology in addressing climate change and states: “Parties share a long-term vision on the importance of fully realising technology development and transfer in order to improve resilience to climate change and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
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