Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 5): A new service set up by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) aims to match buyers and sellers of low-carbon technologies to speed technology transfer to developing Asia.

In a statement on its website Dec 5. ADB vice-president for knowledge management Bindu N Lohani said Asia was the tip of the spear as far as climate change impacts are concerned.

“We need to ensure a swifter flow of tested and up-and-coming low-carbon technologies to the region so that it can mitigate and adapt to the changing climate,” he said.

The first-of-its-kind technology exchange was launched on the sidelines of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP20) meeting in Lima, Peru.

The ADB said the pilot service would initially focus on clean energy and energy efficiency technologies with the average transaction size expected to be $2 million-$5 million.

“Called IPEx Cleantech Asia, the exchange will broker technology transfers from developed countries to developing Asia and between developing Asian nations, as well as provide a platform for knowledge sharing,” it said.

The ADB said the service would be run by a Singapore-based joint venture comprising DNVGL’s Clean Technology Center in Singapore, part of Norway-headquartered, global advisory firm DNVGL AS, and ReEx Capital Asia, a Singapore clean energy investment banking and consulting firm.

“We have already pulled together a consortium of partners to join our intellectual property technology transfer marketplace. We are committed to making a positive impact in developing Asia in line with the objectives of ADB through this pilot and beyond,” the two private sector firms said in a joint statement.

The ADB said developing Asia has an urgent need for country-specific technologies to help it to reduce carbon emissions from energy, industry, and agriculture, and to adapt to climate change impacts such as rising sea levels, more water salinity, and uncertain weather conditions.

It said many technologies, whether nascent or mature, were available in developed countries but developers struggle to connect with those who could best use them in developing countries.

ADB expects buyers of the technologies to include manufacturers, project developers and governments while sellers would likely be innovation design companies, university laboratories, and multinational firms selling intellectual property rights.

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