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| [PHOTO:UNFCCC/CC BY 2.0] |
Doha: Massive investment is required to develop and deploy
climate-friendly technology if global warming is to be halted and developing
countries prepared to cope with the adverse consequences of climate change,
delegates heard at the annual global conference on climate change.
“An estimated $600
billion to $1.5 trillion will be needed annually to help developing countries
transition to low-carbon and climate-resilient economies, with $40 billion
annually needed for adaptation alone in Asia and the Pacific. But we are not
mobilizing sufficient resources to promote the development and deployment of
critically needed climate-friendly technologies,” said Bindu Lohani, Asian
Development Bank (ADB) Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable
Development, at the 18th UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP-18) in Doha.
While ADB and other
multilateral development banks have led the way in backing investment in
existing technologies, they are not making sufficient contributions to
advancing newer ones. Targeted finance is needed both at the innovation and
deployment stages to encourage this shift. This can only be achieved by
encouraging additional private sector investment through well placed public
financing mechanisms, as well as overcoming policy, institutional, information
and risk barriers to investment.
The recent
establishment at ADB of the Pilot Asia-Pacific Climate Technology Finance
Center (CTFC) is a step in this direction. The CTFC, which is part of a wider
partnership among ADB, the Global Environment Facility and the United Nations
Environment Programme, works closely with investors, technology suppliers and
other partners from across the region and around the world.
If the Center concept
is proven to be viable and productive, it could evolve into a permanent
knowledge facility that mobilizes finance while encouraging the development and
deployment of climate-friendly technologies in Asia and the Pacific.
New climate-resilient
and low-carbon technologies are needed to help developing countries avoid the
unsustainable carbon-intensive path followed in the past by mature economies.
In addition, these countries must also build resilience to the adverse impacts
of climate change.