16 November 2017: Throughout the UN Climate Change Conference, taking place in Bonn, Germany, from 6-17 November 2017, the UN and partners launched initiatives and organized events to promote the role of technology in addressing climate change-related challenges. Various other developments sought to build stakeholders’ capacity for climate action.

The Government of Italy and UN Climate Change have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to launch a fellowship programme aimed at strengthening the institutional capacity of the small island developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to respond to climate change. An initiative titled, ‘Capacity Award Programme to Advance Capabilities and Institutional Training in one Year’ (CAPACITY), will contribute to developing local professional expertise in climate vulnerable countries by: supporting innovative analytical work on climate change in the context of sustainable development; promoting a network of experts who can contribute innovative options to address climate change; and encouraging the leadership potential of young professionals in the field. [UN Climate Change Press Release]

ITU Deputy Secretary-General Malcolm Johnson highlighted the role of ICTs in mitigating and adapting to climate change through ITU’s 2014 target to reduce emissions by 30% by 2020 per ICT device, and new partnerships.

In an op-ed published on the occasion of the 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) to the UNFCCC, Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Malcolm Johnson outlined ways for information and communication technologies (ICTs) to be part of the solution to climate change. Noting the ICTs’ exponential growth over the past years, he highlighted the sector’s contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and its role in mitigating and adapting to climate change through, inter alia, ITU’s 2014 target to reduce emissions by 30% by 2020 per ICT device, and new partnerships. [ITU Press Release]

A number of events held in the margins of the UN Climate Change Conference highlighted the contribution of technology development and transfer to climate action. The Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) and the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) held briefs on the role of technology in addressing climate change, and several side events took place, including:

• ‘Endogenous technologies and the Natural Capital: Cross-sectorial capacities for adaptation’ on 13 November; [Endogenous Technologies and the Natural Capital: Cross-sectorial Capacities for Adaptation]
• ‘Technology transfer and innovation for transformative climate solutions’ on 14 November; and [Technology Transfer and Innovation for Transformative Climate Solutions]
• ‘Up-scaling gender-just climate solutions: learning and best practice sharing’ on 15 November. [Up-scaling Gender-just Climate Solutions: Learning and Best Practice Sharing]

Events that focused on capacity building in the context of the international climate regime and implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change included:

• ‘Informing negotiators and observers of the work and activities of the Paris Committee on Capacity-building (PCCB) in 2017’ on 6 November; [Informing Negotiators and Observers of the Work and Activities of the PCCB in 2017]
• ‘Strengthening national capacities to meet enhanced transparency requirements’ on 7 November; [Capacity Building at COP 23]
• ‘Enhancing Transparency through the Capacity-building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT)’ on 15 November; and [GEF Side Events at COP 23]
• Capacity-building Day on 16 November. [Capacity-building Day]

In other news, the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) conducted a Training for Trainers (ToT) on Climate Information and Services (CIS) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 26 October 2017. Based on the CIS e-tutorial, developed by UNECA in collaboration with the One UN Climate Change Learning Partnership (UN CC:Learn), the training sought to build participants’ capacity for mainstreaming CIS into legislation, development planning and policy. [UNITAR Press Release] [CIS E-tutorial]

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The SDG Knowledge Hub publishes regular capacity building and technology updates that can be found under the tag Climate Change Capacity Building and Technology Update.