Climate Technology Centre - The Bonn-based UN Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) secretariat has called for proposals for the host of the Climate Technology Centre (CTC), as requested by governments at the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, last December. The CTC, along with its Network, is the implementing arm of the Technology Mechanism established at the UN Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico, in 2010.

The mechanism is designed to stimulate technology cooperation and to enhance the development and transfer of climate-sound technologies to support action on mitigation and adaptation on the ground by developing countries.

The secretariat has called on interested organizations, including consortia of organizations, to submit their proposals for hosting the Climate Technology Centre by 16 March, 2012.

'At the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, governments gave themselves a heavy workload for 2012, and the call for proposals is the first big follow-on step from that meeting. It is also a major step towards delivering real and tangible transfer of technologies and know-how to developing countries,' UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres said in a statement.

'Governments decided in Durban to launch the selection process of the host of the CTC, which is an important step to make the Technology Mechanism become fully operational in 2012, so we should very soon see concrete results,' she added.

According to the secretariat, the objective of the Climate Technology Centre and its Network is to assist developing countries to build or strengthen their capacity to make their technology choices, and to facilitate the preparation and implementation of technology projects and strategies.

The host of the CTC will be approved by the next UN Climate Change Conference, to be held in Qatar at the end of 2012.

Pana 20/01/2012