Public–Private Partnerships for Climate Technology Transfer and Innovation: Lessons from the Climate Technology Centre and Network

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement, and a number of other important agreements call on the United Nations (UN) to strengthen its relationship with the private sector in order to facilitate global action on climate change. The Technology Mechanism (TM), for example, anchored in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, is a key enabler for the attainment of the Goals of the Paris Agreement, growing interest in collaboration with the private sector has created new ambitions within the UN’s Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN).

One of the primary reasons to pursue such increased engagement with the private sector is the importance of technology transfer: many of the technologies that can help mitigate climate change exist in various private companies, and sharing this technology safely and responsibly is key to using it on a large scale.  This paper reviews and analyses the role of the private sector in facilitating technology transfer that is undertaken as a part of CTCN’s provision of Technical Assistance. Based upon this analysis, several recommendations are made regarding how best to enhance public–private partnerships in order to strengthen private sector participation in climate technology transfer activities, and there is a special focus on technology–push and market–pull innovation.

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