Date
17 Nov 2016
The Paris Agreement is the world’s first collective arrangement on climate change. Each country has made a commitment to make a contribution to achieve the ambitious target of limiting global average temperatures to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. African countries have conveyed an urgent need to strengthen climate technology transfer to help implement their Nationally Determined Contributions. The Climate Technology Transfer Centre and Network (CTCN) provides an opportunity for developing countries to address their technology challenges.
At a side event convened at the COP22 by the CTCN, the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and UNEP DTU Partnership (UDP) brought representatives of Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, The Gambia, Mali Namibia and Zimbabwe, to share their countries’ experiences with the CTCN. They gave insights on how developing countries can take full advantage of technology transfer support available through the CTCN.
Jason Spensley, CTCN’s climate technology manager, set the scene by introducing the CTCN, its role in facilitating the accelerated transfer of environmentally sound technologies for low carbon and climate resilient development at the request of developing countries.
Some technology transfer responses
Dr Henry Neufeldt, head of climate change at ICRAF, outlined examples of technology transfer in the agriculture and forestry sectors. So far, ICRAF has responded to requests on design of biodiversity monitoring network in the context of climate change in Chile, support/advice in the elaboration of the environmental information system for addressing climate and change challenges in Côte d’Ivoire. ICRAF has also supported the national agroforestry policy design and training in Nepal, and the development of a multi-country concept of climate-smart and sustainable agriculture in Niger, Mali and Guinea-Bissau.
Sara Traerup, senior researcher with the UNEP DTU Partnership gave examples from CTCN technical assistance in the water sector and for preparing technology road maps. She talked about the support to the Water Services Trust Fund in Kenya on the technical and financial feasibility of selected green technologies for improved water resources and climate-proofed infrastructure in arid and semi-arid lands in northern Kenya, and in poor peri-urban areas.
Pui Cuifen, Section Head, UNEP DHI Partnership, Singapore talked about technologies for improved monitoring and management of water in Africa. She highlighted DHI’s work on drought early warning and forecasting system in Ghana, strengthening flood warning system for Sukhumvit district in Bangkok, and the climate change vulnerability and adaptation study for port of Port Louis, Mauritius.
Examples of CTCN responses to countries in Africa
Namibia is a water-scarce country and often suffers recurrent droughts. In June 2016, President Hage Geingbob declared a state of emergency due to the on-going drought only three years following a similar government announcement. CTCN’s response plan is an analysis of climate change adaptation options to enable the country’s transition to sustainable water security.
Jonathan Mutau Kamwi of Namibia’s Ministry of Environment and Tourism, outlined outcomes of CTCN’s response. The government will rehabilitate boreholes, use solar pumps instead of diesel pumps, and improve storage systems to ensure that public water supply is not interrupted. The response will ensure conservation of energy and water, climate resilience practices and improve climate information systems.
Birama Diarra of Mali said, “We can tell you that we are amongst the first to put requests in West Africa and we have others in the pipeline.” Mali has put forward requests on adaptation in agriculture, food, water resources and energy. “We have just finished the first case of agriculture adaptation for 663 vulnerable communities. We have involved them to identify the technologies and to see how we can implement these different technologies. Mali has developed guides to distribute technologies to different areas, and have translated them into local languages.
“People often come up with different project ideas but do not know how to implement them. The CTCN benefits from expertise from all over the world to develop concrete ideas,” said Philippe Kouadio Kumassi. CTCN helped to design and set-up an environmental information system to guide efforts to improve the collection of environmental data with a focus on climate change.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, CTCN supported the Improved Forested Landscape Management Project to test new approaches to improve community livelihoods and forested landscape management, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.
In his remarks, Joseph Badevokila said, “CTCN guarantees that economic, social and environment sectors are covered. We are aware of our vulnerability to climate changes if we do not take care of our forests and ecosystems. Our domestic projects such as wood coal, will require a lot of technology transfer.”
Lamine Jatta, of The Gambia highlighted requests related to climate change adaptation and mitigation. “We will align the implementation (of the requests) with NDC and national policies. As much as we are interested in beekeeping let us connect it to forest conservation. Forestry is sensitive to climate change.”
Wrap up
Panelists emphasized the value of the CTCN in supporting countries to implement their NDCs, and encouraged others to take full advantage of the network.
The event, Climate Technology Transfer for African countries through the Climate Technology Centre and Network was hosted at the Africa Pavilion at the Marrakech COP22 by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and the UNEP DTU Partnership (UDP) on Friday 11 November 2016.
Speakers and panellists
- Jason Spensley, Climate Technology Manager, CTCN
- Henry Neufeldt, Head Climate Change, World Agroforestry Centre
- Sara Traerup, Senior researcher, UNEP DTU Partnership
- Pui Cuifen, Section Head, UNEP DHI Partnership, Singapore
- Elisha N. Moyo, NDE, Ministry of Environment, Water & Climate, Zimbabwe
- Kouadio Kumassi Philippe, NDE, SEED‐CC, Cote d’Ivoire
- Jonathan Mutau Kamwi, NDE, Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Namibia
- Birama Diarra, NDE, L'Agence Nationale de la Météorologie, Mali
Also see:
Climate Technology Transfer Network
Examples from CTCN technical assistance in the water sector and for preparing technology road maps: presentation by Sara Traerup, Senior Researcher, UNEP DTU Partnership
Examples of technology transfer in the agriculture and forestry sectors: Presentation by Henry Neufeldt, Head of Climate Change, World Agroforestry Centre
World Agroforestry Centre at the COP22