Organising the National Technology Needs Assessment (TNA) Process: An Explanatory Note

Transcription

1 Appendix II Organising the National Technology Needs Assessment (TNA) Process: An Explanatory Note Subash Dhar, Jyoti Painuly, Ivan Nygaard and Jorge Rogat UNEP DTU Partnership (UDP) Denmark Revised (November, 2014) - 0 -

2 Background UNEP and UNEP DTU Partnership (UDP) are involved in the implementation of a global Technology Needs Assessment (TNA) project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The TNA Phase I project was implemented between 2009 and 2013 in 36 countries. The TNA process is typically country driven and stakeholder consultations are strongly recommended (See Box 1) at each stage 1. Therefore a note 2 to guide the national institutional structure within the countries was prepared to support countries in Phase I. The note was based on the experiences of UDP experts who took part in discussions and missions to the countries of Phase I. The note 2 has now been revised further for Phase II of the TNA, which will start in November 2014, on the basis of learnings from Phase I 3. Box 1: Learnings from first TNA 4 (Conducted by UNEP & UNDP) Process-related 1. Strengthening national capacity should be a key priority for future work on technology transfer activities 2. Clearly define stakeholders roles and strengthen their involvement 3. Ensure there is a well-defined and transparent institutional set-up in countries 4. Develop a detailed work plan in consultation with stakeholders, defining roles, and laying out our clear objectives Methodology-related 5. Clearly define activities and ensure timely technical guidance is available 6. Use most recent and applicable methodology, and adapt guidance to national circumstances 7. Decide on the tool of prioritisation in accordance with national circumstances 8. Strengthen the identification of needs for adaptation technologies 9. Consider non-technological options 10. Use a wide range of criteria, identify a small number of key sectors Project Boundary 11. Conduct a barrier analysis for the selected/prioritised technologies 12. Develop implementation plans to address the barriers identified 13. Develop project proposals 1 UNDP (2010) "Handbook for conducting Technology Needs Assessment for Climate Change" 2 Dhar, Subash; Painuly, Jyoti & Nygaard, Ivan, 2010 "Organising the National TNA Process: An Explanatory Note" 3 Refer the synthesis report by UNFCCC on TNA Phase I implemented by UNEP & UNEP DTU Partnership between 2009 and 2013"Third synthesis report on technology needs identified by Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention TNA Synthesis Report" 4 The learnings are based on a review of two synthesis reports submitted by UNEP and UNDP to GEF in 2008 on first TNA exercise and a TNA best practices workshop conducted by UNFCCC in

3 Institutional Structure The institutional structure proposed for implementing TNA is shown in Figure 1. The National TNA team will generally be responsible for conducting the TNA within the countries. The National TNA team comprises the National TNA Committee, National Consultants /experts, Workgroups, and TNA coordinator. In accordance with Lessons 2 and 3 (Box 1), the suggested roles for each will be outlined below. National experts on mitigation and adaptation who would act as national consultants for the project may be hired by countries themselves. By doing so national capacity can also be strengthened (lesson 1), as the national consultants would receive training at the regional capacity building workshops on methodologies and tools for conducting TNA. Figure 1. Proposed institutional structure for the TNA project The in-country institutional structure and titles will be up to the countries. For example, a country may decide to call the National Steering Committee element the National Advisory Committee, but importantly each element of the in-country institutional structure is designed to play an important role (Figure 2). For example, although the TNA process can be implemented by engaging a few mitigation and adaptation national experts (National consultants) and - 2 -

4 producing a few reports, the establishment of a National TNA committee and work groups can be a useful platform to successfully engage a wide range of stakeholders. Similarly, inviting key policy makers to take part in a National Steering Committee could be beneficial in assisting the uptake of any policy recommendations from the work groups and National TNA committee. Political Acceptance National Steering Committee Wide Stakeholder Consultation Work groups & National TNA Committee Analytical Basis & Reporting National Consultant Figure 2. Role of in-country institutional elements National Steering Committee The National Steering Committee should be composed of members responsible for policy making from all relevant ministries as well as key stakeholders from the private sector. The National Steering Committee provides political acceptance to the TNA process within a country and would be responsible for: Guiding the National TNA team Providing political acceptance for the Technology Action Plan National TNA Team The National TNA Team will be the main decision making body for the project, and the Project Coordinator (or TNA Coordinator) will be the focal point. The National TNA team is composed of a small core group (i.e., the National TNA Committee), and a broader group of stakeholders (i.e., sectoral /technology workgroups) and experts (national consultants), that would aid the core group

5 a. TNA Coordinator The appointment of the TNA Coordinator is the responsibility of the entity signing the TNA MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) or Agreement (responsible ministry). The TNA coordinator plays a key role and is expected to coordinate amongst the different groups to ensure that they work together as a team. The TNA Coordinator will be the focal point for the TNA project and manager of the overall TNA process. The Coordinator will provide vision and leadership for the overall project, facilitate communication with the National TNA Committee members, National Consultants and stakeholder groups, form networks, and compile information, and coordinate and communicate all work products. The solid leadership and clear management skills of the project coordinator is critical for the success of the TNA in each country. It is therefore recommended the TNA Coordinator have at least: facilitation skills, project management skills, and scientific or engineering background, as these competencies will assist in understanding technology specifications and performance requirements. b. National TNA Committee The National TNA Committee is the core group of decision makers and includes representatives responsible for implementing policies from relevant ministries, or other representatives who are familiar or work with national development objectives, sector policies, climate change science, potential climate change impacts for the country, and adaptation needs. The number of National TNA Committee should ideally be restricted to below ten members in order to keep the decision making process relatively simple. The composition of the National TNA team is on the other hand relatively flexible as it may need to induct members from the relevant stakeholder group for specific tasks. For example, if electricity is one of the prioritised sectors for mitigation then a work group would be constituted comprising of stakeholders from utilities, industrial consumers, civil society, regulators, etc. The role of the National TNA Committee is to provide leadership to the project in association with the TNA coordinator. Specific responsibilities include: 1. Identifying national development priorities, and priority sectors for technology needs. 2. Deciding on the constitution of sectoral / technological workgroups - 4 -

6 3. Approving the technologies and strategies for mitigation and adaptation recommended by sectoral workgroups. 4. Approving the Sectoral Technology Action Plan (a roadmap of policies that will be required for removing barriers and creating the enabling environment) and developing a cross-cutting National Technology Action Plan (TAP) for mitigation and adaptation. c. National Consultants / Experts The national consultants are national mitigation and adaptation experts, selected by the National TNA Committee in consultation with UDP. They will work in close collaboration with the National TNA committee and various work groups, and will be directly responsible to the TNA Coordinator. The national consultants overall task is to support the entire TNA process, by leading and undertaking activities such as research, analysis and synthesis in support of the TNA project. The national consultants will be an important component of the global TNA project and participate in regional-level capacity building workshops organised by UDP and Regional Centres (RCs). They will be responsible for providing process-related and technical advisory services needed for conducting TNAs and developing Technology Action Plans (TAPs) at the country level. Together with the TNA coordinator, the national consultants will assist the TNA coordinator in applying the participatory approach to the TNA process by facilitating the tasks of communication within the national TNA team, outreach to stakeholders, formation of networks, and coordination and communication of work products. National consultants are expected to: 1. Provide support to the identification and categorisation of the country s priority sectors, and identification and prioritisation of technologies for mitigation through a participatory process with a broad involvement of relevant stakeholders; 2. Facilitate the process with the work groups of analysing how the prioritised technologies can be implemented in the country and how implementation circumstances could be improved by addressing the barriers and developing an enabling framework. The results will be included in the barrier analysis and enabling framework report (BA&EF); 3. Prepare the National TAP, which will outline essential elements of an enabling framework for technology transfer and will consist of market development measures, institutional, regulatory and financial measures, and human and institutional capacity requirements. It will also include a detailed plan of action for implementing the proposed policy measures and assessing the need for external assistance to cover additional implementation costs

7 4. Prepare the TNA, BA&EF, TAP and final report for the country. The TAP report will include project ideas. d. Sectoral / Technological Workgroups The Stakeholders are central to the TNA process, as they are key to carrying forward the implementation plan after project completion. To engage stakeholders in the TNA process, constitution of workgroups is proposed. The workgroups would be constituted by the National TNA Committee. The workgroups can be established by sector and can decide on the technologies appropriate for the given sector, as well as undertake market / barrier analysis and recommend an enabling framework for the sector. In case the National TNA Committee chooses to prioritise technologies instead of sectors then the work groups can be organised on technology lines. The work groups could include persons drawn from government departments with responsibility for policy formulation and regulation, private and public sector industries, electric utilities and regulators, technology suppliers, finance, technology end users (e.g., households, small business, farmers), technology experts (e.g., from universities, consultants, etc.) and others (international organisations, donors). Regional Centres (RCs) The current TNA (TNA Phase II) project will be implemented in 25 developing countries (see Figure 3). The project engages two RCs in each of the regions (Latin America, Africa, and Asia) to support the TNA process in the countries, with a role to generate greater awareness about technology needs of the countries at regional level, and to enhance capacities within the region 5. 5 This can help similar projects by other organisations. Details on country wise initiatives can be found on <

8 Figure 3. Regional Scope for the TNA Phase I and Phase II project In cooperation with UDP, the RCs will play a substantial role in providing technical support to the national TNA teams. The main responsibilities of the RCs will be the following: 1. In collaboration with UDP organise and facilitate the regional training workshops where country participants will be trained on the methodologies for conducting the TNA. 2. Provide technical and process support to the countries within the region during the whole project implementation. For this, the RCs would undertake missions to countries depending on the needs of the countries. 3. Provide countries with advice/guidance through the "help desk", as requested by the countries after country missions workshops and throughout project implementation. 4. Based on country requests, provide technology descriptions for technologies not found in the TNA technology guidebooks, the database of factsheets from the countries, or on the Climate Techwiki3. 5. In collaboration with UDP organise and facilitate the experience sharing workshops for countries 6. Review and comment on TNA, BA&EF and TAP reports from countries to improve quality of outputs, and compile a synthesis report and a best practice report

9 UNEP DTU Partnership (UDP) UDP is the implementing agency for the project at global level with a main role in supporting the countries in the TNA project through: 1. Recommending the institutional structure for conducting the TNA to countries. 2. Providing methodological inputs for conducting the TNA. 3. Providing support to the countries for data related to technologies on mitigation and adaptation, through strengthening Climate Techwiki site, developing guidebooks, and through the on-demand help desk facility available at the RCs 4. Providing training in methodological tools and databases which would be provided in regional capacity building workshops. 3 Climate Techwiki is an online database on mitigation and adaptation technologies