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Despite recession, cash is needed for climate technology revolution, says ippr

08 July 2009

If there is to be a global deal on climate change countries like the UK will have to find cash to pay for low-carbon technology, says the think tank ippr.

As leaders of major economies meet in Italy on Thursday to discuss global action on climate change, ippr calls on the UK and other G8 governments to ring fence more cash for low-carbon technology in order to rescue a global deal. This should happen even though governments are under huge pressure to make cuts due to the state of public finances.

ippr’s comments come as the Global Climate Network, of which ippr is a founder member, releases a new eight-country study examining why low carbon technology has so far failed to take off.

Based on interviews with 100 experts from government, industry, academia and civil society in key countries including the US, China and India, the report concludes that a lack of robust government policy and a chronic shortage of finance are the principle barriers to a low-carbon technology revolution.

The Global Climate Network report shows that without additional finance from the industrialised world to expand and accelerate developing country governments’ own investments in low carbon energy, it is impossible to see a deal being struck at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen in December.

Lisa Harker, co-director of ippr said:

‘None of the governments meeting in Italy this week are being honest about the financial challenge we face in tackling climate change. There’s huge over-reliance on creating carbon markets to deal with the problem, but these won’t fully kick in for a decade or more. We need targeted government intervention and finance now to start the massive technological revolution that’s needed.

’Developing countries, whose main need is for cheap energy to power their growth to lift millions out of poverty, are effectively being asked to replace or add to existing power stations with low carbon alternatives, or to fit technology to capture the carbon emissions. Their response is to ask: who will pay? The UK and other leading economies have to step up and say, we will.’

John D. Podesta, CEO of the Center for American Progress, the US member of the Global Climate Network said:

’Reaching an agreement on the transfer of low carbon technology will be critical to the success of the global climate talks in Copenhagen. Developing countries are right to call for more help with it. The GCN report shows that in exchange for developing countries committing to national low carbon plans, developed countries need to do far more to help developing ones to meet the cost of low-carbon technology policies. That's the sort of deal we need.’

Notes to editors:

Breaking Through on Technology, a new Global Climate Network report examining how to remove the barriers to faster technology development and transfer, is published on 9 July 2009. The full report is available here. It is based on interviews with 100 experts from government private sector firms, academic institutes and non-governmental organizations in eight countries (Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, India, Nigeria, South Africa and the United States).

Leaders of major economies from the developed and developing world will meet on Thursday afternoon (9 July) to discuss coordinated global action on climate change in preparation for the UN climate summit in Copenhagen in December. They are expected to focus on technology needs and how to finance them, as well as discussing targets for reducing emissions.

The Global Climate Network is a collaboration of independent, influential and progressive research and policy organisations in countries key to tackling climate change. The Network is committed to addressing the constraints faced by sovereign governments in agreeing international action.

The Network’s members are:

• Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr), London, also acting as the secretariat for the Network: The UK’s leading progressive think tank with a strong track record on research and policy.
• Center for American Progress, USA: Founded by John Podesta, former Chief of Staff to President Clinton.
• Research Centre for Sustainable Development, China: An institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Dr Jiahua Pan, its director, is one of 12 members of the Chinese Experts Committee for Climate Change. 
• The Energy and Resources Institute, India: Directed by Dr R.K. Pachauri, Chairman of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
• Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, Germany. Wuppertal Institute’s ground-breaking climate change work is led by Dr Hermann Ott.
• Vitae Civilis, Brazil. Dr Rubens Born, Vitae Civilis’s director, has had significant input into the Brazilian government’s recent climate change plan.
• International Centre for Energy, Environment and Development, Nigeria. ICEED has expertise in climate change and energy policy.
• The Climate Institute, Australia. Set up in 2005, the Institute is a leading Australian voice in climate research and advocacy, pioneering clean technology and investment solutions with government and business.
• IMBEWU Sustainability Legal Specialists Pty Ltd, South Africa. An influential Johannesburg-based legal consultancy specialising in sustainability law with a strong climate change focus. 

The report’s recommendations include:
1. Put technology at the heart of climate negotiations More emphasis should be placed on technology in the climate change debate especially in the ongoing UNFCCC negotiations: recognising its role in enabling countries at all stages of development to reach environmental and sustainable development goals simultaneously is critical. 

2. Create focused incentives for technology deployment The key technologies identified in this study require focused incentives. These might include new tariff structures, the removal of established energy subsidies and government-led finance to reduce the higher risks associated with large scale low-carbon technology deployment. 

3. Link technology and finance in international talks International processes, such as the UNFCCC, should focus on how developed country governments and private sector financiers can support the development of incentives in developing countries, such as meeting the cost of feed-in tariffs and helping to reduce the negative social impacts of removing fossil fuel subsidies. 

4. Develop national low-carbon technology strategies Beyond the UNFCCC negotiations, leadership countries at different levels of development should establish low-carbon technology strategies. Such initiatives could attract formal recognition and finance within a future international framework. 

5. Give an urgent boost to R&D initiatives Calls for an increase in low-carbon R&D spending must be taken seriously. Governments should increase their support for R&D at the national level as part of their national low-carbon technology strategies and increased R&D finance. A major, International Technologies Initiative to accelerate R&D should be a key part of any new international framework for action.

6. Pilot joint learning and capacity-building One clear area that could benefit from international agreement is in the sharing of technical knowledge, through capacity-building and mutual learning programmes. 

7. Establish joint innovation for future technologies The GCN believes a new International Technologies Initiative is necessary, in which regional and global innovation ‘hubs’ would provide a focal point for collaboration on the development of breakthrough low-carbon technology. An international network of low-carbon research, development and demonstration initiatives could also help in future to overcome the barrier posed by IP.

8. Reward technology risk-takers with strong IP The developers of existing technology, some of which is subject to patents restricting its generic manufacture and use, should be assured of strong enforcement of their IP if they license and do so at reasonable cost. Conversely, patents could be withdrawn if developers who are guaranteed protection do not seek to deploy technology.

9. Develop new technology collaboratively In future, low-carbon innovation could be driven by collaborative initiatives, such as the International Technology Initiative above. Technology might therefore be open access, with an emphasis on a sharing of equipment, but also on the development of locally appropriate versions. 

Contacts:

Tim Finch, Director of Strategic Communications: 07595 920 899 / 020 7470 6125 / t.finch@ippr.org