Technology plays a crucial role as a practical instrument to address climate change. The development of less greenhouse gas (GHG) intensive technologies and the diffusion of innovations for mitigation of and adaptation to climate change is crucial for the reduction of emissions in developing and developed countries. For this reason, technology innovation and its subsequent diffusion are at the core of current negotiations about the post-Kyoto climate governance. While efforts in this direction have to be undertaken primarily by developed countries as part of the “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities”, the potential role developing countries can play as a source and vehicle for climate-related technologies should not be underestimated.

 

Developing and emerging countries are facing increasing international pressure to make serious efforts to combat global warming, and especially to reduce emissions of GHGs. The key difficulty hampering the efforts of developing countries to limit global warming consists in their limited access to climate friendly technologies, and the problems this causes. Article 4.5 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) suggests a mechanism of North–South technology transfer as a possible solution which would allow developing countries to deal with the challenges of climate change. It asks developed country signatories to “promote,

facilitate and finance, as appropriate, the transfer of, or access to, environmentally sound technologies and know-how to other Parties, particularly developing country Parties”. The UNFCCC, however, falls short of sufficiently considering the potential of South–South technology transfer; and other fora such as the WTO framework give equally little attention to it. This thesis aims at exploring this gap by considering the potential of technology flows between developing countries as a complementary and interesting paradigm to address climate change.

 

Indeed, South–South technology transfer constitutes an interesting alternative to the traditional pathway of North–South transfer of technological innovation through financial flows, emphasising the role of developing countries as sources and not only as recipients of international technology innovations. Several developing countries are emerging as world leaders in some key climate-related technologies, involving other developing countries in numerous projects, and spreading clean technology through trade and investments flows.

 

Furthermore, South–South technology transfer is relevant from a broader development perspective. The implementation of a mitigation and adaptation strategy, at a national or international level, cannot be analysed without considering the framework of sustainable development and without taking into account the possible impact on economic growth, equity and poverty alleviation. South–South technology transfer has the potential to increase the “development dividend”, the social and developmental benefits that are associated with adaptation measures and the implementation of policies on GHG emissions in developing countries.

 

Until now, the effective achievement of the transfer of climate-related technologies has not been an easy and immediate process, but has faced the challenge of needing to respond to the specific economic situation of the different recipient countries with regard to the efficient diffusion and assimilation of new technologies. Moreover, the transfer of technologies should also involve a long-term capacity building goal tailored to the particular situation of the host developing country, a process sometimes too burdensome for regular development assistance. These reasons have contributed to the lack of progress in technology transfer under formal mechanisms (UNFCCC's Clean Development Mechanism) or along the traditional North–South pathway. The South–South approach to technology transfer may overcome some of these difficulties, as foreign direct investments transmit technological innovations between developing countries, which share some similarities, and thus may better mutual understanding of their markets, financial and social situations.