Developing Countries Gain Support To Address Local Climate Challenges

Source: Globalnewsreel.com

Among the various interventions to mitigate the severity of climate change, a climate technology program (CTP) is focused on giving a range of global activities to meet the needs of private sector innovators in developing countries.

Extracts from infoDev’s “The Climate Technology Program: Accelerating Climate Innovation in Developing Countries” revealed the program intends to provide the countries access to the latest technology, information, financing and expertise to participate in growing international climate sector opportunities to address local climate challenges.

infoDev is a global technology and entrepreneurship program in the World Bank Group.

There is further indication that innovation would transform climate challenges into economic growth opportunities.

“Innovation in water and irrigation technologies will help relieve the increased water stress caused by climate change for millions of people in Africa and elsewhere,” as compiled by infoDev.

Again, it explained that sustainable agricultural technologies deployed in Central and South Asia would help offset the projected 30 per cent fall in crop yields in the region due to climate change.

Also, tens of millions of jobs are expected to be created in the renewable and energy efficiency sectors by 2020 with ten to 40 fold increases in jobs in solar and biomass sectors respectively.

Attempts to adapt the above initiatives brought together stakeholders at a workshop organized by the World Bank and the Danish International Development Cooperation (DANIDA) in Accra Wednesday to consider establishing a Climate Innovation Center (CIC) in Ghana.

CICs are designed as locally owned and run institutions, which provide a suite of services and venture financing that address the specific needs of local climate innovators and companies. They could also be linked to the UN Climate Technology Center and Network (CTC&N) by providing expert institutions on the ground with excellent knowledge of local climate technology challenges.

Objectives of the workshop were for stakeholders to assess the viability of the CIC business model designed for the country’s local circumstances after which organizers would present the results of extensive stakeholder engagement with the Ghanaian public and private sectors.

Tabled for discussions by the working groups included entrepreneurship and venture acceleration, access to finance, market growth and access, technology and product development as well as policy and regulatory support.

It was expected that the content generated from the workshop would be used to finalise a full business plan for the Ghana CIC.

Background

The Ghana CIC business model is as a result of a four-month process involving extensive analysis and stakeholder engagement across the country.

The efforts, according to organizers, included concept validation workshop, a landscape and market analysis, a preliminary budget model, a quantitative survey of entrepreneurs and other stakeholders among others.

A Deputy Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), Muheibu Mohammed-Alfa pointed out that the impacts of climate change were negatively affecting the country’s major drivers of “our economy, which are agriculture, industry and infrastructure.”

And that “the need to build our capacity to enable us adapt and mitigate the situation is therefore, critical to our continued survival.”

To him, the ministry had sought to ensure the development agenda of the government in responding to the emerging trends of global warming and how Ghana could better contribute to the common objective and position herself as a leader within the African region.

Mr. Mohammed-Alfa observed that setting up a CIC towards this direction was in tandem with the government’s five systemic pillars included in the National Climate Change Policy (NCCP), which has received Cabinet approval.

They are governance and coordination, science, technology and innovation; finance, international cooperation, information, communication and education; and monitoring and reporting.

These, he added, would complement the government’s efforts to strengthen capacities, leadership competencies while transforming the institutions and organizations actively involved with climate change via innovation in new technologies.