Press Release

July 31, 2012
  • Global Environment

Results of the 21st Asia-Pacific Seminar on Climate Change

The Ministry of the Environment organized the 21st Asia-Pacific Seminar on Climate Change (hereinafter referred to as AP seminar) with the co-organizer, the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Australia and the supporter, the Asian Development Bank at the Asian Development Bank Institute, Tokyo on 26th and 27th July.

Fifty-five policy makers, researchers and experts who engage in technologies in mitigation and adaptation from seventeen countries in the Asia-Pacific region, twelve international organizations and research institutions participated in this Seminar and discussed the development and transfer of climate friendly technology in the Asia-Pacific region.

Shigemoto Kajihara, Councilor of Global Environment Bureau, Kunihiko Shimada, Special Advisor to the Minister and others from the Ministry of the Environment participated in it.

1. Date: 26 Thursday and 27 Friday July, 2012
2. Co-organizer: Ministry of the Environment, Japan
Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Australia
3. Supporter: Asian Development Bank
4. Secretariat: Overseas Environmental Cooperation Center (OECC)
5. Location: Asian Development Bank Institute (Kasumigaseki Building, Tokyo)
6. Participants: Representatives of seventeen countries in the Asia-Pacific region and twelve international organizations and research institutions

7. Summary
In this seminar, regarding the development and transfer of climate friendly technologies in the Asian-Pacific region, practitioners from developing countries in this region shared lessons and issues from climate technology development and transfer projects in mitigation and adaptation and results and problems related to Technology Needs Assessments (TNAs) tackled under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In addition, aid agencies introduced experiences of support projects. Based on these presentations, participants discussed the role of governments, which coordinate among domestic stakeholders, the fact that technology needs are not reflected to development plans, and the significance of public finance to reduce climate change risk. Concerning the mobilization of finance, it was pointed out that the cycle of technologies could influence the formulation of finance. Therefore, participants also discussed that it is necessary to understand the whole picture of technology, finance and policy in order to promote the development and transfer of climate friendly technology. The results of arguments related to each theme are shown below. (We will upload the summary (English) in a few weeks as below website: http://www.climateanddevelopment.org/ap-net/seminar/h01.html)

(1) Lessons learned and issues from climate (mitigation and adaptation) technology development and transfer projects / programs

  • In order to promote technology related projects in developing countries, government leadership (coordination among stakeholders), long-term policies and regulation, public finance, and capacity development would be essential. In the field of mitigation technology which is expected to acquire profit, it is necessary to arrange enabling environment of private sectors.
  • In the area of adaptation, it was recognized that the definition of development and transfer of technologies was ambiguous in general. It was also shared that it was difficult to distinguish between prediction of climate change and early warning systems, and development projects. Public finance is also important. Compared to technologies in adaptation, it is significant to utilize knowledge of local residents and promote activities of dissemination and enlightenment in the level of community. Furthermore, it was pointed out that there are the possibilities of the construction of risk abatement scheme through the combination of insurance.
  • It is one of fundamental issues that results of the TNAs have not been shared among relevant ministries which engage in domestic development plans and budget allocation.

(2) Identification on financial support necessary to realize the development and transfer technologies in the Asia-Pacific

  • The way of mobilizing finance depends on the cycle of technologies. In the earlier stage of the cycle such as basic and applied R&D, governments should play more active roles in fostering technologies, while in the latter stages such as commercialization, market accumulation and diffusion, linkages between businesses and financiers should be strengthened. Especially, in the diffusion stage, the finance form such as loan and guarantee should be taken into consideration.
  • The effectiveness of carbon finance, namely the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), was also discussed in order to promote technologies in mitigation. There are views to acknowledge certain achievements of the development and transfer of technologies through the CDM, while there are also limitations which hinder the introduction of technologies with higher specification.
  • It was proposed that capacity-building for local and international bankers should be conducted to understand and become familiarize about climate friendly technologies.
  • Some participants expressed higher expectation to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), in order to promote technology transfer.

(3) Possible schemes and platforms for climate technology development and transfer in the Asia-Pacific

  • The importance of establishing, strengthening and effectively utilizing of related networks were discussed. Through experiences in the Asia Pacific Adaptation Network (JAPAN) initiated by the MOEJ and the UNEP, the effectiveness of sub-regional hubs together with national focal points, and five thematic groups was shared.
  • Some participants mentioned that international and regional efforts for the development and transfer of technologies through various networks should be shared by developing countries and their local communities. In particular, it was shared that as individual developing countries have different needs related to specific technology and finance systems, it is important that national focal points should do matching between technical needs and finance.
  • Knowledge management and capacity-building were recognized as one of essential elements of the development and transfer of technologies in the Asia-Pacific region. For instance, some panelists indicated that the websites of TT CLEAR and others, which have been built by the Expert Group on Technology Transfer (EGTT), should be complimentarily utilized for platforms development in this region.

For Japanese