GEF newsletter Greenline

Technology Transfer News

By Chizuru Aoki, Anna Lerner, Linus Ik-Pyo Hong, GEF Climate and Chemicals Team

Since its establishment in 2008, the Poznan Strategic Programme on Technology Transfer has been a key vehicle for the GEF to support technology transfer.  An update on its progress is provided below.

Background
In November 2008, the GEF Council and the Least Developed Country Fund (LDCF)/Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) Council approved the Strategic Program on Technology Transfer.  The Program aimed to scale up the level of investment in the transfer of environmentally sound technologies (ESTs). The approved Program included a funding window of $50 million with $35 million coming from the GEF Trust Fund and $15 million coming from the SCCF.  The Strategic Program was renamed the Poznan Strategic Program on Technology Transfer at the Fourteen Conference of the Parties (COP 14) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2008.
There are three funding windows to support technology transfer under the Poznan Strategic Programme, namely: (1) technology needs assessments (TNAs); (2) piloting priority technology projects; and (3) dissemination of GEF experience and successfully demonstrated environmentally sound technologies (ESTs).  The GEF has also proposed a Long-Term Programme on Technology Transfer, which was presented to COP 16 in 2010.

Technology Transfer Pilot Projects

Fourteen proposals of technology transfer pilot projects on mitigation and adaptation were prioritized for funding out of the 39 proposals submitted to the GEF Secretariat in 2009. Total GEF resources requested for these 14 projects amount to $36.8 million from the Poznan Program, with additional $21.2 million requested from the GEF Trust Fund.  Total GEF funding for the selected 14 pilot projects amounted to $58 million, and total co-financing for these projects amounted to more than $195 million.

As of September 2011, GEF Agencies charged with implementing the technology transfer pilot projects have reported considerable progress in project preparation. Three projects have been CEO endorsed and are progressing in project implementation.  Nine projects have been undergoing preparations for CEO endorsement. One project was cancelled upon request from a GEF Agency, and has been re-submitted to the GEF by a different Agency in September 2011. Upon approval by the GEF Council, this project will again be included under the Poznan pilot project portfolio. Another project is in the process of withdrawal due to financial constraints of the government. 
The technologies targeted by these projects for development and transfer are diverse and innovative.  They include mitigation and adaptation technologies on renewable energy (solar, biomass, wind, and hydrogen production and storage), energy efficiency (insulation materials, and efficient and hydrofluorocarbon-free appliances), transport (“green” trucks), composting, carbon capture and storage from sugar fermentation, and membrane drip irrigation for adaptation. 
The project documents are available at the GEF website:  http://www.thegef.org/gef/gef_projects_funding

Technology Needs Assessment (TNA)

  • The TNA project concept, under window one of the Poznan Strategic Program, was approved by the LDCF/SCCF Council in April 2009. Based on this TNA project concept, UNEP, as the GEF Implementing Agency, developed a full project document, which was endorsed by the GEF CEO in September 2009. Project implementation by UNEP started in October 2009.
     
  •  The TNA project aims to provide targeted financial and technical support to assist 36 developing countries in developing and/or updating their TNAs within the framework of Article 4.5 of the UNFCCC and to support them in preparing Technology Action Plans. The project seeks to use methodologies in the updated TNA Handbook, which became available in May 2010.
     

Key areas of progress that have been achieved as of September 2011 include the following:

  • Seven first round countries have submitted TNA draft reports containing prioritized technologies. 21 additional (second round) countries were selected in October 2010 for the second round of TNAs.
     
  • Three Project Steering Committee (PSC) meetings have been held to assess the project progress and discuss the upcoming activities. The third PSC meeting was held in November 2010 and the fourth is expected to be held in November 2011 in Durban.
     
  • Regional Capacity Building workshops for first round countries were held in Asia, Africa, and Latin America in January and February 2011. The workshops focused on analysis of barriers and development of national technology action plans. For second round countries, workshops were organized in Asia, Africa, and Latin America between June and August 2011, focusing on technical support and stakeholder engagement process.
     
  • Four sectoral TNA guidebooks have been released as a part of the technical support to countries.
     
  • The first in a series of newsletters ("TNA Newsletter") -- aimed at keeping countries and other stakeholders informed of the project progress and sharing experiences -- has been published.
     
  • The GEF Secretariat and UNEP in cooperation with the UNFCCC organized a UNFCCC Workshop on Technology Needs Assessments, held in Bonn, Germany on 1–2 June 2011. An update on the TNA project in the context of the Poznan Program was provided at the workshop. Five of the TNA reports from the first-round countries were presented.

Dissemination of GEF Experience and Successfully Demonstrated Environmentally Sound Technologies (ESTs)

The GEF published two booklets on technology transfer in 2010. The first booklet, published in December 2010, presents the Poznan Strategic Program, and provides updates on the pilot projects and TNA project.  It also features the elements of the Long-Term Program on Technology Transfer. The booklet is available in English, French, and Spanish. The document can be downloaded at http://www.thegef.org/gef/pubs/Tech-transfer_2010

The second publication is the Booklet on Transfer of Environmentally Sound Technologies - Case Studies from GEF Climate Change Portfolio. This publication features some of the key EST supported by the GEF to date, encompassing the areas of renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transport, and innovative financing. The document can be downloaded at http://www.thegef.org/gef/pubs/tech-transfer-case-studies-2010

In addition, the GEF website now has technology transfer information, which can be accessed from http://www.thegef.org/gef/Technology_Transfer