Alternative climate-friendly development pathways are necessary at a global scale to enable sustainable economic development whilst allowing countries to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Low-carbon development could be the solution as it is based on climate-friendly low-carbon energy and follows principles of sustainable development.
To achieve low-carbon economies, it is crucial to create ‘enabling environments’ to stimulate the transfer of low-carbon technology to developing countries. This study aims to investigate the current status of the ‘enabling environments’ proposals from various organisations, the benefits for low-income countries and the key priorities and policy options to be introduced for these countries.
Low income countries have profited very little from technology transfer so far and often suffer the most from climate change impacts due to their limited financial and infrastructural resources.
Technology transfer and its financing are building blocks of the Bali Action Plan under the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change and will be one of the critical issues in the international climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December 2009. This research will contribute to a greater understanding of the best options.