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ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY AND POLICY IN CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION
Dr. Zablone Owiti, Ph.D
National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI)
Institute of Climate Change AdaptationUniversity of Nairobi15th October, 2014
OUTLINE
• Response to climate• Role of Technology and Innovation• Barriers to climate technology
Innovation• Role of policy in Innovation• Examples of Government policies• Brief on NACOSTI Funding
program
Response to climate Change
MitigationReducing/Avoiding emissions =>
dealing with causes
AdaptationManaging climate risks =>
dealing with impacts
Mitigation refers to the policies and measures designed to reduce GHG emissions. Measures can include: • reducing demand for emission-intensive goods and
services; • boosting efficiency gains; and• increasing the use of low-carbon/ clean/green
technologies.• enhancing “sinks” reservoirs that absorb CO2, such as
forests or peat bogs (a type of wetland where decomposition is slowed down and dead plant matter accumulates as peat).
Innovation in clean technologies is not crucial solely because it will reduce GHG emissions, it is also crucial because it will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, contribute to our energy security and drive economic growth and competitiveness.
Adaptation - Adaptation to climate change refers to adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities. Adaptation occurs in physical, ecological, and human systems.
Hard and soft adaptation- "Hard" adaptation measures usually imply the use of specific technologies and actions involving capital goods, such as dikes, seawalls and reinforced buildings, whereas "soft" adaptation measures focus on information, capacity building, policy and strategy development, and institutional arrangements.
Forms of technology for adaptation are often fairly familiar.
Many have been tried and tested over generations – coping with floods, for example, by building houses on stilts or by cultivating floating vegetable plots.
Other forms are much more recent, involving advanced material science, e.g. remote satellite sensing.
For all these technologies, one of the main challenges is to ensure that they serve those in greatest need – the developing countries and most vulnerable communities, particularly those who live and work in close contact with the natural environment and who stand to lose most, and perhaps even their livelihoods, when ecological resources are under threat
Types of Adaptation to Climate
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20-litre bucket kit LHLCD irrigation system
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Mitigation and Adaptation Leads to Sustainable Development thro’:• Promoting resource–use efficiency• Reducing waste and pollution• Building resilience (e.g. through adaptation to
environmental changes)
We need to design the mitigation & Adaptation strategies in such a way that they help ensure sustainable development.
Climate Change mainstreaming can be defined as the informed inclusion of climate change considerations into the decisions of institutions that drive national, local and sectoral development policy, rules, plans, investment and action.
The objective is for adaptation and mitigation measures to be implemented "as part of a broader suite of measures within existing development processes and decision cycles”
Developing countries do not have the technological capacity to effectively adapt to or mitigate climate change.
There is need for transfer and development of appropriate technologies to enable them to do so
For technology transfer and development to be undertaken effectively, developing countries have to identify their technology needs (TNA) depending on their: • development plans; • Priorities; and • national circumstances
Main issues that had to be addressed were:• The country’s development plans and priorities. This was done
through review of Government Development Plans the main one being Vision 2030 and other documents.
• The sectors that contribute most to the development plans and priorities. Again this was done through review of Development Plans and other documents.
• Technologies that contribute most to national development and also address climate change adaptation and mitigation
Practically all identified sectors contribute to national development and are also related to climate change. But there are those ones that contribute most => Need for prioritization
THE TECHNOLOGY NEEDS ASSESSMENT PROCESS (KENYA)
For climate change adaptation two sectors were selected namely: Agriculture Water resources The selected technologies for climate change adaptation were the following:In the agriculture sector:• Drought resistant Sorghum variety of crops• Drip irrigation technologiesIn the water resources sector:• Surface water harvesting• Roof water harvesting
SELECTED SECTORS AND TECHNOLOGIES
For climate change mitigation the selected sectors were: Energy Waste management
The selected technologies for mitigation were:In the energy sector:• Solar Home Systems.• Solar Dryers.In the waste management Sector:• Methane Capture from bio-degradable wastes
Root BarrierTechnology Root Barrier
Surface Run-off Water Harvesting Technology
High Initial Cost
Roof Rainwater Harvesting Technology
Lack of incentives
Drought Tolerant Sorghum Technology
Low Adoption of Drought Resistant Sorghum by farmers
Drip Irrigation Technology
High cost of initial installation
Measures to Overcome Barriers
Technology Measure (s)
Surface Run-off Water Harvesting
VAT Waiver on materials Low interest rates on loans Intro. of Appropriate of Subsidies Intro. of appropriate land policy
Roof Rainwater Harvesting Develop Policy on rainwater harvesting Encourage competition on materials supply
Drought Tolerant Sorghum Sufficient Research funding Affordable credit and loans Effective communication and extension Effective market network
Drip Irrigation Training of more technicians Incentives and tax rebates Low interest rates
PROJECT IDEAS/CONCEPTS
Two project ideas proposed for water and agriculture sectors: Integrated Climate Change Project
in Water Harvesting and Drip Irrigation in Selected Counties
Promotion of Adoption of Drought Tolerant Sorghum in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) of Kenya
1. Integrated climate change project in Water Harvesting and Drip Irrigation in Selected Counties The project idea is an integrated project that
will:• introduce 10,000 surface runoff water harvesting
systems, • Introduce 50,000 roof rainwater harvesting units;
and • 500,000 drip irrigation to systems to communities
for agriculture and household use.The goal of the proposed project is to enhance
transfer and diffusion of climate change adaptation technologies in rainwater harvesting and drip irrigation in selected counties in Kenya, for socio-economic development
Integrated Project Concept for Water and Agriculture Sectors
Some barriers unique to Climate Tech. innovations
•Environmental impacts are not priced (social returns exceeds private returns): firms will not be able to benefit significantly from any advances they make in reducing such impacts. Pricing carbon or other economic instruments that address environmental externalities will therefore make investment in green innovation much more attractive for private investors.
•Policy uncertainty: long term investments require more predictable and stable policy signals on how governments are going to deal with major environmental issues – boosts the confidence of investors in green innovation & shift consumers towards more environmentally-friendly behavior, thereby favoring the creation of new “green markets”.
• Dominant of existing technologies and systems : can create entry barriers for new technologies due to, for example, the high fixed costs of developing new infrastructures.
• Differentiation of products in some areas is difficult or impossible: making it difficult for new entrants to get a return from innovation on their investment. (prevalent in energy sector where customers value electricity but may not possess the information with which to discriminate between electricity generated from a wind or gas turbine).
The rationale for innovation policies
•Negative externalities of climate change and other environmental challenges: • If firms and households do
not have to pay for the climate damage imposed by GHG emissions, then GHG emissions will be too high.
• If customers do not have to pay for the water they use, they are unlikely to use it efficiently.
•Has implications for innovation (both creation and diffusion of technologies, products and processes)
if there is no demand for environmental solutions, then the demand for green innovation will be below the social optimum.
In turn, there will be insufficient incentives for companies to invest in innovation, due to little market demand for any products or processes that might come of it.
•The market failure implies that policies are needed to correct this negative environmental externality, e.g. through carbon taxes, tradable permits or other market instruments.
Market instruments that put a price on environmental externalities will therefore be crucial to green innovation
Impact of policies in Green innovations (Case Of Kyoto Protocol )
Trends in high-value patents (“claimed priorities”) for a number of climate change mitigationtechnologies
Sharp increase in some inventions since the late 1990s, coinciding approximately with the signing of the Kyoto Protocol.
Context specific innovation policy needs
•Policy mechanisms to respond to context specifications of Green Technology, the locations where they will be used and needs for local actors. Some context specs are:
1. Rural Versus Urban: Rapid urbanization make cities key areas for low-carbon infrastructure
2. Environmental Context: Some areas might be suitable for wind energy, others to geothermal. Also different needs of households, farms, firms and industries.
•Building local innovative capacity to benefit from technology transfer
•Align policy to country’s development needs – including focus on poverty alleviation
Example1: Projects introducing energy efficient cooks stoves have failed in some areas in Africa because the technology was not consistent with local cooking practices.
The successful ones engaged local users in: • Design of cook stoves• Trained end-users on their maintenance• Educated others on their use and maintenance
Example 2: Photovoltaic Market transformation Initiative (PVMTI) initiated in 1998 with GEF and IFC: initially failed in Kenya since there was no focus on capacity building from the outset.
The Tanzanian (Mwanza region) component succeeded due to policy influence (technical standards, lower duties and taxes), private sector capacity building(technical and sales), raising awareness (demonstrations), enhancing affordability and replication in nearby regions.
Relevant Government Policies
Technological innovation comes from private firms, but only if the government creates the conducive conditions such as regulations to induce innovation by business and industry and pull both existing and new technologies into widespread use
Relevant Government Policies • Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC (Via Constitution, 2010), CDM,
IET• Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariff (FiT) Policy (enables IPP to
generate electricity at a pre-determined tariff=> market stability) • Solar PV System Regulations (only licence technicians allowed
to design and install)
• Solar Water Heating System (SHS) Regulations
• draft National Policy for Carbon Investments and Emission Trading by the Treasury;
• NCCRS + Action Plan
• Draft National Climate Policy (National Climate Council + National Climate Fund)
Relevant Government Policies • Agriculture (Farm Forestry) Rules 2009, introduced under the
Agriculture Act, aim to promote and maintain farm forest cover of at least 10 percent of every agricultural land holding
• Environmental Sustainability as a PC Target ( Waste mngt, CC adaptation initiatives-energy & water efficiency, planting trees)
Opportunities for funding and Capacity Building to facilitate Green Innovation development and Transfer
•Increasing emphasis on ‘Climate Compatible” development in the funding streams (e.g bilateral aids) created opportunities for African nations to exploit funding and related activities to gain access to, and uptake of climate technologies
•Opportunities to build indigenous innovation capacity through a network of CICs across developing countries will catalyze Green Technology Transfer, innovation and capacity building.
•Technology Mechanism developed under the UNFCCC: will implement a Climate Technology Centre (CTC) in one developing country and linked to a network of other centers distributed across developing countries.
Role of NACOSTI in Research and Innovation promotion
NACOSTI mandate: to REGULATE and ASSURE QUALITY in Science, Technology and Innovation sector and ADVICE government on matters related thereto
NACOSTI administers science, technology and innovation (ST&I) grant on behalf of the government of Kenya which allows Kenyans to conduct research and also undertake innovation projects
• NACOSTI administers the Kenya Government ST&I grant since 2008/2009 FY
• The grant supports research and innovations in priority areas in relation to Vision 2030, Medium term plan and Sector plans, MDG.
• Since inception the ST&I Grant – supported over 1000 research and innovations in both public and private institutions
• Has been structured to target specific funding categories for desired impact
The Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) Grant
ST&I Grant products• Research• Innovations• Postgraduates - Ph.D & M.Sc/MA• Women Scientists• Research facilities• Support for Conferences/Symposia • Bilateral programs• Post-doctoral research• University Research Chairs• Incentives for publications• University-Industry linkages
Research Chairs Program:
The NACOSTI – IDRC project is currently supporting research Chairs in universities in areas of health systems and agricultural biotechnology.
In future the project will support research Chairs in climate change, material science, space science, nanotechnology among others.
ST&I grant –Collaborative Programmes
• Kenya/S. Africa joint research projects (27)• NCST/ Japan Society for Promotion of
Sciences (5)• Kenya/DAAD (54)
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Adaptation & Mitigation Projects supported by NCOSTI
• Bicycle Mobile Charger: that reduces over-reliance on electricity to charge phones
• An-Electro-coagulation Technique of Color Removal from Waste Water: The technique is energy efficient and ensures water use efficiency
• Home Water Purifier: Increases safe water availability in rural areas with no piped water
• Domestic Waste Biogas system: provides clean alternative energy at household level
• Shower Irrigation Technology: Ensure Conservation Agriculture by using less water to grow more food.
• A pilot project on replacement of Kerosene lighting in rural and peri-urban households areas with clean and efficient solar-powered systems
Examples of developed Innovative ideas that have been commercialized
04/18/2023
Improved livestock feeding
Production of biodiesel from waste vegetable oil’’
Remote Weighing System
Tablets for Schools
Developed Innovative ideas
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Shoe mobile chargerCar tracking system
Solar powered seed planterGrain moisture meter
3G Remote Camera
