Under the Convention, the developed country Parties and other developed Parties included in Annex II shall take all practicable steps to promote, facilitate and finance, as appropriate, the transfer of, or access to, environmentally sound technologies and know-how to other Parties, particularly to developing countries to enable them to implement the provisions of the Convention (Article 4.5). This commitment is echoed in similar provisions under the Kyoto Protocol (Article 10 c). Parties have taken decisions to promote the development and transfer of environmentally sound technologies at each session of the COP.  more >>

As part of the Marrakesh Accords, at COP 7, Parties were able to reach an agreement to work together on a set of technology transfer activities, grouped under a framework for meaningful and effective actions to enhance the implementation of Article 4.5 of the Convention. This framework, contained in the annex to decision 4/CP.7, has five main themes:

• Technology needs & needs assessments
• Technology information
• Enabling environments
• Capacity building
• Mechanisms for technology transfer

At COP 13, Parties adopted a set of actions for enhancing the implementation of the technology transfer framework and agreed that these activities would complement the actions in the technology transfer framework. These actions include the organization of meetings and workshops, the implementation of the results of technology needs identified in TNAs, the further development of the technology transfer information clearinghouse, including a network of technology information centres, actions by governments to create enabling environments that will improve the effectiveness of the transfer of environmentally sound technologies, capacity building activities and technical support for project developers in developing countries. Funding to implement the framework complemented by the set of actions is to be provided through the GEF.

The COP, by decision 2/CP.14, welcomed the Poznan strategic programme on technology transfer, as a step towards scaling up the level of investment in technology transfer in order to help developing countries address their needs for environmentally sound technologies and recognized the contribution that this strategic programme could make to enhancing technology transfer activities under the Convention.