The fight against climate change will not be won unless a “revolution” in the use of existing low-carbon technology, and numerous new innovations, takes hold, says the Global Climate Network (GCN) in its report released earlier this month.

Entitled ‘Breaking through on technology’, the report seeks to analyse how to overcome the barriers to the development and wide deploy- ment of low-carbon technology, and it was released to coincide with the Group of Eight (G8) summit, which took place in Italy.

It highlights the importance of technology, and states that finance goes hand in hand with technology development and transfer, particularly since most low-carbon technologies require high upfront investment and could be more costly to deploy than carbon-intensive alternatives. It suggests that effec- tive development and transfer of low-carbon technology require a complex combination of factors that lie both inside and outside the aegis of the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC).

“Knowledge and capacity are as important as equipment,” says the GCN, pointing out that intellectual property rights need careful attention. The report also notes that more keenly focused government policies are despe- rately needed, including regulations on carbon standards and providing clear, targeted incentives and tax breaks.

A number of recommendations are also made, including putting technology at the heart of climate negotiations; creating focused incentives for technology deployment; link- ing technology and finance in international talks; developing national low-carbon technology strategies; giving an urgent boost to research and development initiatives; rewarding technology risk takers with strong intellectual property; and developing new technology collaboratively.

Success at the climate summit in Copenhagen, in December, depends on reaching consensus on several divisive issues – one of these is technology. “Low-carbon innovations were said to have the potential to improve lives as well as cut greenhouse-gas emissions, but this will be squandered unless governments step up and lead,” states the GCN.

The report further notes that market failure, inertia in public policy, and a reliance on carbon-based energy are constraining tech- nological innovation and its widespread use, especially at global level.

Attempts over two decades to stimulate the development and transfer of low-carbon technology (to developing countries, in particular) through the UNFCCC process, have been largely unsuccessful. This is, perhaps, not necessarily the fault of the climate talks, but of public policy, in general, often at domestic level, and of markets.

The report highlights research which states that the faltering nature of technology processes in the UNFCCC are also the result of a long-standing political divide between developed and developing countries over the very process of development. Developed countries (Japan, the US and Germany, in particular) are the main inventors and largely, therefore, owners of ‘climate- friendly’ technologies. These countries, listed in Annex I of the UNFCCC, have an obliga- tion under its Article 4 to transfer technologies to developing countries.

The GCN argues that the legal obligation of developed countries to transfer technology is beyond dispute. However, many of those exposed to this obligation state that it is best fulfilled through the creation of robust markets in which goods can move freely, intellectual property rights are upheld in each jurisdiction and carbon-intensive production is crowded out by pricing emissions.

However, there is a strong corre- lation between the countries in Annex 1 that have this legal obli- gation and the jurisdictions in which low-carbon technologies are owned, suggesting that they are well placed to gain from the deve- lopment of free markets.

Developing countries, on the other hand, argue that substantial global intervention is necessary to ensure developed countries fulfil their obligations, for instance through intellectual property buy-outs and the establishment of a global technology fund under the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC.

Parallel World Trade Organisa- tion negotiations and the failure of other global processes have eroded trust. Thus, developing countries want tangible proof of the willingness of developed- country governments to enable technology transfer and, perhaps, most importantly, the development and production of new techno- logies in developing countries.

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