Technology transfer (which we refer to as technology support), encompasses the diffusion/adoption of technologies and technology cooperation across and within countries. Specifically, it comprises the process of learning to understand, utilize and replicate a given technology, including the capacity to choose it, adapt it to local conditions and integrate it with indigenous technologies. Technology support activities involve various stakeholders, including governments, business, non-governmental organizations, research and education institutions, as well as the ultimate users of the technologies.

Beyond individual technologies
Environmentally Sound Technologies (ESTs) have long been recognized in the international arena as an important means to promote sustainable development in both developed and developing countries. The Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, for example, encourages the exchange of best practices and know-how on environmentally sound technologies between public and private institutions. Agenda 21 defines them as technologies that: “protect the environment, are less polluting, use all resources in a more sustainable manner, recycle more of their wastes and products, and handle residual wastes in a more acceptable manner than the technologies for which they were substitutes”.

ESTs go beyond individual technologies, and encompass total systems that include know-how, procedures, as well as organizational and managerial procedures. The need to facilitate EST transfer and accessibility, and to build capacity for EST deployment and use, particularly in developing countries, are clearly set out in Agenda 21. We understand comprehensive technology support processes to cover: Technology needs assessment — To assess what are the technology needs of the potential recipient, what are its technology support needs, what are systemic/capacity building/financial/policy needs etc.; Technology assessment and selection — To identify what technology options are available, what are their strengths and weaknesses, and to do a techno-economic-social-environmental assessment of the options to identify the most suitable one; Transaction and contractual aspects — To reduce the costs of initial transactions in a sector and to identify and fulfil the contractual aspects between various stakeholders such as technology supplier, technology recipient, financier, and the government, giving due recognition to intellectual property rights and patents, national and international rules and regulations; Technology implementation — Procurement, installation and commissioning of various equipment and the overall system and ensuring stable operating conditions; Capacity building — To ensure that technology recipients to effectively operate and maintain the technology system and respective components in a sustainable manner; and Performance assessment — To ensure that the technology will perform as per the claims made by the supplier.

Tools
Various tools may be utilized to support technology support, including:

Needs assessment methodologies such as Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis, GAP analysis, and PEST (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological) Analysis; Technology assessment methodologies such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Environmental Technology Assessment (EnTA), Cleaner Production – Energy Efficiency (CP-EE) assessment, and Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA); Information networks; Technology data bases and case study data bases; Policy framework with well-defined and effectively implemented rules and regulations, and other incentives for adoption of ESTs; Training and capacity building tools — this should include tools and activities which enhance the capacity of countries to repair and maintain ESTs, including by local production of spare parts; and Performance assessment tools, such as Environmental Technology Verification, and a comparison of performance against Performance Codes and Standards.

An Example from Iraq
As part of a larger USD 15m portfolio, one of our most exciting projects looks at supporting environmental management of the Iraqi Marshlands. The latter constitute the largest wetland ecosystem in the Middle East. Located at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the area is home to a 5,000-year civilization and has sustained rich biodiversity. By 2003, the area had suffered extensive ecological damage, with the accompanying displacement of much of the indigenous population.

Since 2004, we have been implementing a project to help the Iraqi partners to preserve the area’s ecosystem and biodiversity, and to protect human health and livelihoods, as requested by the Iraqi authorities. This project demonstrates the applications and transfer of environmentally sound technologies to provide basic services to the local residents and to implement wetland management practices. In particular, the project has implemented the following activities for EST technology support:

Providing basic services in an ecologically sensitive area using an EST – The provision of basic services to the local residents, particularly safe drinking water, has been identified as a number one priority. Conventional water supply means were evaluated to be unsuitable for rural communities within the Marshlands, due to the high level of total dissolved solids and other pollutants in the water, geographical characteristics, settlement patterns, and other factors. Based on field assessments and evaluations of alternatives, the project utilized the advanced reverse osmosis technology for water provision.

Using native plants for wastewater treatment – The project has implemented the constructed wetland technology for wastewater treatment in a small community, which was facing public health threats from untreated sewage. In the constructed wetland, the water flows through gravel beds that are planted with reeds. Pollutants are removed through micro-biological oxidation in the root zone, and also through the uptake of nutrients for growth of reeds. The constructed wetland technology was appropriate for the Marshlands due to the technology’s smaller land requirements, minimization of human contact with wastewater, and acceptance by the local community.

Rehabilitating the Marshlands using ESTs — The project has also identified key work required for rehabilitation of the Marshlands, including restoration of marshland interconnections and flow regulations through channel connection and irrigation management, application of phytotechnology for replanting and water quality improvement, separation of domestic wastewater, and dredging and cleaning of canals to manage water flow and quantities. These technological measures can rehabilitate damaged marshland areas, and support the restoration of biodiversity.

Evaluating vegetative and water recovery — The use of satellite imagery, coupled with groundtruthing exercises, has been utilized to assess and report on the level of vegetative and water recovery in the Marshland area on regular intervals.

The project has also established a web-based information system to enable data and information exchange among the local and international stakeholders, and has provided various capacity building and local environmental initiatives to create an enabling environment and human capital to continue with marshland management. We feel that this project is complementary to the approach adopted under the CBD, which recognizes that both access to and transfer of technology are essential elements for the attainment of the objectives of the Convention. The way forward UNEP’s experiences illustrate the important role for technology support, particularly with ESTs, for the protection and sustainable management of ecologically sensitive areas. Clearly, business has a crucial role to play in EST technology support. Such opportunities may include the identification and application of technologies that can help to reduce negative impacts of human activities on biodiversity, utilization of technologies that help assess and delineate baseline conditions, and implementation of technologies that can provide basic services in areas where conventional means are not appropriate.

Technology support is expected to play an increasingly important role to enable countries to address emerging environmental challenges that lay ahead of us. For example, addressing the threats of climate change on biodiversity and other vulnerable subjects will certainly require technological response, both from mitigation and adaptation perspectives. An emerging need of developing countries is to be able to assess various technology options available and select the one that is most suitable, in terms of economic, environmental and social performance, for the local application. This requires development of appropriate tools and building capacity at the local level in using those tools. The UNEP Sustainability Assessment of Technologies (SAT) methodology is one such tool.

With the growing importance of business engagement and the developments of Technology Transfer and Scientific and Technological Cooperation under the Convention, we see many areas of ongoing and future collaboration. In this regard, we look forward to providing feedback from our activities and projects which are relevant to the work of the Convention.

Surya Chandak ([email protected]) is Deputy Director, International Environmental Technology Centre, UNEP Division of Technology, Industry and Economics and Chizuru Aoki ([email protected]) is Iraq Project Coordinator, International Environmental Technology Centre, UNEP Division of Technology, Industry and Economics.

See also: http://www.marshlands.unep.org.jp