The approval of India’s technology transfer proposal to establish a global network of climate innovation centres for developing and deploying clean technologies at the ongoing climate change talks in Copenhagen should cheer businesses.
In its submission to the UNFCCC, India had suggested that climate innovation centres be located in various parts of the world for undertaking development and deployment of clean technologies suited to their respective regions. The centres would do so by forging private and public sector partnerships. The centres would undertake R&D after identifying the local needs and appropriate technologies, and develop and deploy them after undertaking capacity building to enhance their faster absorption. The Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi and UK-based Carbon Trust has estimated that five regional centres would entail an initial investment of $2.5 billion, and potentially trigger an investment of $2.5 billion by the private sector.
In this background, the development marks the first success in a two-week summit, which is already midway and still grappling to reconcile differences between industrialised and developing countries over issues ranging from basics like whether the rise in the temperature should be contained within1.5 degree Celsius or 2 degrees Celsius since the pre-industrial times to setting ambitious emission reduction targets of 25-45% for developed countries and limiting the growth of emissions of developing countries at 15-30%.
While the centres may not deliver breakthrough technologies in geo-engineering or carbon capture and storage, they are expected to deliver utilitarian technologies like development of cleaner cooking ranges and deployment of energy efficient lighting solutions, catering to the existing market and beyond. Today, the global low carbon and environmental goods and services sector is estimated to be worth more than $4 trillion. It comprises technological solutions for tackling pollution of air, water and land; renewable technologies for small hydro, wind, solar etc, and low-carbon technologies for construction, transport and energy sectors.
Today, India and Japan are the third biggest markets for low-carbon and environmental goods and services, after the USA and China. The four countries make up about half of the market, which grew 4% in 2007-2008. It should grow faster as the impact of the green component of $430 billion in global fiscal stimulus packages sinks in and the world rallies together aggressively to embark on a low-carbon growth path to bring down emissions.
Source: The Financial Express
Published on 14 December 2009