Climate policy & technology
Green Technology Transfer
The transfer of environmentally sound technologies and know-how from developed to developing countries — an obligation written into Article 4.5 of the UNFCCC.
Definition
Green technology transfer is the diffusion of environmentally sound technologies — those that protect the environment, are less polluting, use resources more sustainably, recycle more waste, and handle residual waste more acceptably — together with associated know-how, from developed to developing countries. Article 4.5 of the UNFCCC obliges developed-country Parties to take all practicable steps to promote, facilitate, and finance such transfer, and the Convention's Technology Mechanism (TEC and CTCN) operationalises it.
References
treaty basis and scope
EST framing
Overview
What it means
Mitigation and adaptation are global only if the technologies are global. Transfer is not merely shipping hardware: it requires enabling environments, absorption capacity, intellectual-property arrangements, and finance — which is why the IPCC and the UNFCCC treat it as a system of conditions rather than a transaction.
How it is used
The concept anchors the UNFCCC Technology Mechanism, climate funds' technology programmes, and debates on IP and green innovation sharing; it features in the global stocktake's means-of-implementation assessment.
Why it matters
Without affordable access to clean technologies, developing countries face an impossible choice between development and climate goals. **Note:** Confidence Medium: borders the generic "technology transfer" concept; the EST/UNFCCC framing provides the bounded definition.
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