24 November 2010: The UNFCCC Secretariat has published a study on the contribution of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to technology transfer to developing countries, which concludes that the CDM has been a key driver of technology transfer in developing countries.

The study analyzes the technology transfer claims made by project participants in the project design documents (PDDs) of the 4,984 projects that were in the CDM pipeline as of 30 June 2010, comprising 2,389 registered projects, 170 that were being considered for registration and a further 2,425 projects that were undergoing validation. These projects are associated with 81 countries and cover 25 project categories. The findings of the study show the extent of technology transfer, as well as the change that has occurred as the use of the CDM by host parties matures.

According to the study, 30% of all projects in the pipeline, accounting for 48% of estimated emission reductions, involve technology transfer. It notes however that the involvement may actually be as high as 44% of all projects, given that 24% of the PDDs analyzed did not specify whether technology transfer occurs and survey results suggest that 60% of these may in fact involve technology transfer. In terms of the size of projects, the study concludes that technology transfer is generally more strongly associated with larger projects of almost all project types. It shows that unilateral and small-scale projects are less likely to involve technology transfer, and that technology transfer is more common among the larger of these projects.

The study also shows the change in the rate of technology transfer over time as the use of the CDM matures. It indicates that technology transfer was more common during the early years of the CDM than it is today. It shows that: this decline in technology transfer is particularly evident in the three countries with the most CDM projects, namely China India and Brazil; all other CDM host countries have a high rate of technology transfer that has declined only modestly over time; and such a decline in technology transfer is consistent with the increasing trend towards unilateralism in the CDM. The study concludes that this suggests that the CDM has demonstrated its ability to contribute significantly to technology transfer towards developing countries, in particular in the early years of a host country’s involvement. [The CDM Technology Transfer Study]