Unlocking tech-transfer & access to clean energy in the Global South

Two researchers from the Energy Center—Dr. Anjali Nursimulu and Dr. Vincent Moreau—joined efforts to better understand the mitigated success of clean-energy technology transfer to the Global South, in terms of both direct impact (e.g., electrification rate) and indirect impact (e.g., economic development), with the perspective of developing a Technology Transfer Monitor. 

Four institutions from the Global South have participated in the project: the Indian Institute of Technology, Indore (India), the University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), the Environmental and Population Research Centre (Bangladesh) and the German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation (GIZ) Madagascar. The workshop also benefited from contributions from UN entities, namely the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the United Nations Research Institute for Sustainable Development (UNRISD) as well as from a Swiss Foundation, Antenna Foundation, which partners with universities to disseminate technologies to meet essential needs.

The discussions revolved around the following questions: 

1. What are the successes and failures of renewable energy policies?
2. What are the challenges of technology transfer at the bottom of the pyramid?
3. How can data access for tech-transfer impact assessment be improved?
4. To what extent can access to clean energy help to deliver on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development?

Heightened Coordination

The workshop highlighted the need for a more coordinated approach at the international, national and local level to enhance the economic and social returns on investment, as summarized below: 

• At the international level, greater coordination of financing flows and technology transfer, facilitated by green-trade preferential rules, can contribute to optimal technological choice and its timely delivery. 
• At the national level, particular attention should be given to possible trade-offs among policy objectives (e.g., scaling-up private investment vs. boosting local employment) and coherence across energy, innovation, competition and capital-market policies. 
• At the local level, achieving broad and sustainable local impact requires the involvement of local actors to improve technology acceptance, operations and maintenance, and appropriate monitoring beyond the project phase.