Transfer of Technologies
Short history of the issue
Parties have taken decisions to promote the development and transfer of environmentally sound technologies at each
session of the COP. At COP 4 (Buenos Aires, November 1998), as part of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action, Parties decided to give new impetus to
this issue by adopting 
decision 4/CP.4, which requested the Chairman
of the SBSTA to establish a "consultative process" on technology transfer. Decision 4/CP.4 stated that
the consultative process should consider a list of issues and questions set out in an annex to the decision, as
well as any additional issues and questions subsequently identified by Parties. The process should then make
recommendations on how the issues and questions should be addressed in order to achieve agreement on a
"framework for meaningful and effective actions" to enhance the implementation of Article 4.5 of the
Convention.
The evolution of the issue over time is illustrated in the figure 1 (135 kB) . Three main periods
can be identified: The Berlin mandate and work on other issues (COP 1 to COP 4), the Buenos Aires Plan of
Action and the consultative process on technology transfer (COP 4 to COP 7), and the Marrakesh Accords and
implementation of the framework for meaningful and effective actions to enhance the implementation of Article 4,
paragraph 5, of the Convention (COP 7 to COP 12), contained in the annex to decision 4/CP.7. At COP 10, a process
was initiated to review the progress made and effectiveness in the implementation of this framework. The EGTT
was requested to provide recommendations for enhancing the implementation, including the revision of this
framework.
As part of the consultative process, the SBSTA Chairman, with the assistance of the secretariat, organized three regional workshops in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin
America and the Caribbean, along with an informal consultation held in Golden, Colorado, USA. Throughout the
process, a number of regional technical background papers and country papers were prepared and presented, all of
which generated much useful information and many ideas for the development of a framework for meaningful and
effective actions to enhance the implementation of Article 4.5 of the Convention. In addition, the consultative
process was able to draw on information and analysis contained in the submissions from Parties and in particular in
the IPCC Special Report on
Methodological and Technological Issues in Technology Transfer.
In parallel with the consultative process, the secretariat upon the request by the COP and SBSTA, has carried out a
number of activities in support of the efforts of Parties to promote technology transfer activities under the
Convention. These activities include the compilation and synthesis of information on financial resources and
technology transfer activities of Annex I Parties, including both mitigation and adaptation technologies, support
Parties' effort in assessing their technology needs and broadening access of Parties to information on
technologies. The secretariat has also prepared a series of technical papers on specific topics, such as adaptation
technologies and terms of transfer. A key ongoing project is the development of a technology information system
(TT:CLEAR), including an inventory of environmentally-friendly
technologies and projects, as well as its technology web page.
Read more about the promise of technology in the
publication United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: The First Ten Years
Development and
transfer of technologies: major milestones (135 kB)