Technology Needs Assessments (TNAs) are a set of country-driven activities that identify the climate change mitigation and adaptation technology priorities of partner countries, and work towards producing a pipeline of investment projects
UN Environment and UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre, with financing from the Global Environment Facility, are implementing a third phase of Technology Needs Assessments (TNAs), involving 22 countries (2018-2022). This third phase focuses on supporting mostly Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing states. The objective of this phase is to go beyond identifying technology needs narrowly and to work towards investment.
The overall objective of the TNA project is to support countries in assessing and articulating their technology needs for both climate change adaptation and mitigation. TNAs represent a unique opportunity for countries to track their needs for new equipment, techniques, services, capacities and skills necessary to mitigate and adapt to climate change and provide information about the potential, ability and scale of climate technologies at the country-level.
In particular, the TNAs lead to the development of national Technology Action Plans (TAPs) that prioritize technologies, recommend enabling frameworks for the diffusion of these technologies and facilitate identification of technology transfer projects and their links to relevant financing sources. The TAPs systematically address practical actions necessary to reduce or remove policy, finance and technology related barriers.
For the implementation of the project, UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre works with regional centres in each of the regions (Latin America & Caribbean, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia & Pacific) to support countries during the TNA process and to create a greater awareness about technology needs of the countries at the regional level. The regional centres, in close collaboration with UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre, are instrumental in providing technical support to the national TNA teams. Finally, the TNA Project is implemented in close collaboration with the UNFCCC Technology Mechanism, being the Technology Executive Committee and the Climate Technology Centre and Network.
17 Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States have started a fourth round of TNAs in 2020.
