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David Ockwell

University of Sussex, Geography/School for Global Studies, Faculty Member

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BSc 1st Class Hons in Environmental Economics and Evaluation (York); MSc Distinction in Environmental Assessment and Evaluation (LSE - ESRC funded); PhD in Environment and Politics (York - NERC/ESRC funded).

I am a Senior Lecturer in Geography, Deputy Director (Research) of the ESRC STEPS Centre, a Senior Fellow in the Sussex Energy Group at SPRU (Science and Technology Policy Research) and a Fellow of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research.

I teach, supervise doctoral students and provide policy advice on climate change policy with a particular focus on low carbon technology transfer and development, and on public engagement with climate change. I have led research collaborations with partners in developing countries (Kenya and India) and provided policy advice to inter-governmental organisations (including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat, African Development Bank, Commonwealth Secretariat and OECD Environment Directorate) and governmental departments in developed and developing countries (including the UK, India and Chile).

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Papers by David Ockwell

Chapter 1 Introduction

Despite decades of effort and billions of dollars spent, two thirds of people in sub-Saharan Afri... more Despite decades of effort and billions of dollars spent, two thirds of people in sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to electricity, a vital pre-cursor to economic development and poverty reduction. Ambitious international policy commitments seek to address this, but scholarship has failed to keep pace with policy ambitions, lacking both the empirical basis and the theoretical perspective to inform such transformative policy aims. Sustainable Energy for All aims to fill this gap. Through detailed historical analysis of the Kenyan solar PV market the book demonstrates the value of a new theoretical perspective based on Socio-Technical Innovation System Building. Importantly, the book goes beyond a purely academic critique to detail exactly how a Socio-Technical Innovation System Building approach might be operationalized in practice, facilitating both a detailed plan for future comparative research as well as a clear agenda for policy and practice. Chapter 1 of this book is freely a...

Debunking free market myths: transforming pro-poor, sustainable energy access for climate compatible development

International policy is fixated with private sector entrepreneurship as the means through which d... more International policy is fixated with private sector entrepreneurship as the means through which development problems, including climate compatible development, can be addressed. Based on CDKN funded research, this chapter presents an in-depth historical analysis of the development of the oft lauded (but, as we demonstrate, little understood) success of the Kenyan off grid photovoltaic market. The analysis clearly demonstrates that mainstream policy assumptions of this market being an example of a free market success story are fundamentally flawed. In fact, the market developed through a long process of targeted capacity building via donor investment. The chapter challenges mainstream assumptions and reveals fundamental insights for how future policy interventions might proceed.

Making Climate Finance work for Africa: Using NDC's to Leverage Climate Relevant Innovation System Builders (CRIBS): Training Brief 1: Why Focus on Building Innovation Systems?

The Political Economy of State-led Energy Transformations: Lessons from Solar PV in Kenya and China

Amid talk of the need for a low carbon 'clean energy revolution' to address the challenges of ene... more Amid talk of the need for a low carbon 'clean energy revolution' to address the challenges of energy poverty and climate change, there is growing academic and policy interest in understanding the role of key actors that are expected to enable transitions and transformations towards a low carbon economy in a pro-poor way. Within the socio-technical transitions literature, there has been increased interest in "the state" as the primary actor with the responsibility, authority and capacity to address these issues. But understanding the role of the state in energy transformations requires an appreciation of context: what is possible given enormous differences in capacity and resources, autonomy and uneven access to different energy sources and technologies. Which technologies and energy systems receive support, whose energy needs get prioritised and which actors are charged with the responsibility for meeting energy needs are a function of very different decision-making processes, political systems and political economies. Taking the case of support to solar PV in China and Kenya, we develop a political economy analysis of state-led energy transformations which seeks to explore how different aspects of statehood impact upon the nature and prospects of the sorts of transformations now urgently required of energy systems. We do so by examining political economy dynamics in relation to: (i) the organisation of the state; (ii) the political nature of the state; and (iii) the state in the global political economy. This raises questions about the viability and desirability of generic prescriptions for "managed transitions" in light of such diversity in state forms and functions, the different ways in which they interact with energy systems and the evident limits of the sorts of transitions and transformations that states alone can steer, manage or impose. It thus speaks to broader debates about the politics of "care" vs. "control" in transformations to sustainability.

Structured Collaboration Across a Transformative Knowledge Network—Learning Across Disciplines, Cultures and Contexts?

Sustainability, 2020

Realising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will require transformative changes at micro, ... more Realising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will require transformative changes at micro, meso and macro levels and across diverse geographies. Collaborative, transdisciplinary research has a role to play in documenting, understanding and contributing to such transformations. Previous work has investigated the role of this research in Europe and North America, however the dynamics of transdisciplinary research on ‘transformations to sustainability’ in other parts of the world are less well-understood. This paper reports on an international project that involved transdisciplinary research in six different hubs across the globe and was strategically designed to enable mutual learning and exchange. It draws on surveys, reports and research outputs to analyse the processes of transdisciplinary collaboration for sustainability that took place between 2015–2019. The paper illustrates how the project was structured in order to enable learning across disciplines, cultures and context...

Transformative Pathways to Sustainability, 2021

A political economy of niche-building: Neoliberal-developmental encounters in photovoltaic electrification in Kenya

Energy Research & Social Science, 2018

International agreements on energy access and climate change, formulated according to neoliberal ... more International agreements on energy access and climate change, formulated according to neoliberal orthodoxy, will drive significant finance to developing countries for clean technology investments. But critics call for more active state intervention-a developmental approach-arguing that free markets alone will not deliver what is required. This creates the potential for confrontation between contradictory ideologies in national policymaking and implementation: neoliberalism in global agreements versus developmentalism in national policy. The Kenyan photovoltaics (PV) market has long-experienced neoliberal-developmental policy interactions, reflecting on which can illuminate how such encounters might unfold in the future. We construct a new 'niche political economy' theoretical framework to analyse these past interactions, constituting one of three contributions we offer. The second is empirical, showing how PV practitioners, national policymakers and global development actors have negotiated their policymaking encounters over time. Our third contribution offers reflections on the issues explored, discussing what this might mean for future neoliberal-developmental encounters. We find that action on the ground will emerge from messy negotiated interactions between competing ideologies rather than be determined by powerful neoliberal actors. As such, realising global energy and climate ambitions becomes even more uncertain unless long-term active nichebuilding resources are secured in international agreements.

Rethinking the sustainability and institutional governance of electricity access and mini-grids: Electricity as a common pool resource

Energy Research & Social Science, 2018

Rethinking the sustainability and institutional governance of electricity access and mini-grids: ... more

Sustainable energy for all or sustainable energy for men? Gender and the construction of identity within climate technology entrepreneurship in Kenya

Progress in Development Studies, 2017

As international climate and development policy and funding efforts accelerate, this article arti... more As international climate and development policy and funding efforts accelerate, this article articulates an urgent new research agenda aimed at redressing the existing failure of policy and research to attend to gender in relation to climate mitigation (as opposed to adaptation). Focusing on the transfer and uptake of low carbon energy technologies, including a review of the literature on women and entrepreneurship and critical discourse analysis of the treatment of climate technology entrepreneurs by infoDev (World Bank) in Kenya, the prevalence of private sector entrepreneurial approaches to climate and development policy and practice in this field is demonstrated to be reinforcing gendered power imbalances.

Sustainable energy for whom? Governing pro-poor, low carbon pathways to development: Lessons from solar PV in Kenya

Financing Sustainable Energy for All: Pay-as-you-go vs. traditional solar finance approaches in Kenya

This paper focuses on finance for Solar Home Systems (SHSs) in Kenya and asks to what extent emer... more This paper focuses on finance for Solar Home Systems (SHSs) in Kenya and asks to what extent emerging new finance approaches are likely to address the shortcomings of past approaches. Drawing on the STEPS Pathways Approach we adopt a framing that understands finance within a broader socio-technical context as a necessary but not sufficient component of achieving alternative pathways to sustainable energy access. The paper contributes in four ways. Firstly, it presents a comprehensive overview of past and new emerging approaches to financing SHSs in Kenya and their relative strengths and weaknesses. Secondly, it represents one of the first attempts in the literature to analyse the potential of new, real time monitoring technologies and pay as you go finance models to overcome the barriers faced by conventional consumer finance models for off-grid renewable energy technologies (RETs). Thirdly, by applying for the first time we are aware of a socio-technical approach, via the application of Strategic Niche Management (SNM) theory, to analyse the finance of RETs in developing countries, the analysis considers finance in the context of the social practices poor people seek to fulfil via access to the energy services that off-grid RETs provide, and the ways in which people previously paid for these services (e.g. via kerosene for lighting). This also situates the analysis within the understanding of SHSs as a niche that has to compete with the established regime of energy service provision and its attendant social and political institutional support. The paper therefore also contributes to the small but expanding body of literature that seeks to operationalise socio-technical transitions thinking and SNM within a developing country context.

Low carbon technology transfer: lessons from India and China

Low carbon technology transfer to developing countries has a central role to play in mitigating c... more Low carbon technology transfer to developing countries has a central role to play in mitigating carbon emissions. It is a key issue for the international negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The promise of access to low carbon technologies was an important incentive for developing nations to support the UNFCCC in 1992. Although the Convention was intended to facilitate low carbon technology transfer, its success in achieving this has been limited, Many developing nations have expressed frustration that their expectations have not been met. Policybriefing Low Carbon Technology Transfer: Lessons from India and China Key messages • Low carbon technology transfer is an essential component of the UNFCCC negotiations. However, it should be analysed and supported as a component of wider processes of low carbon innovation in developing countries.

Innovation systems in developing countries

This paper provides a review of what every developing-country policymaker should know about low-c... more This paper provides a review of what every developing-country policymaker should know about low-carbon innovation. It explains what is unique about low-carbon innovation, why low-carbon innovation systems matter, and in what ways they need to be strengthened. However, building low-carbon innovation systems is a resource-intensive and long term endeavour, the outcomes of which are neither guaranteed nor predictable, and no single approach fits all national contexts. To mitigate the risky nature of building innovation systems, the public sector needs to provide financial support alongside private sector investments. Innovations emerge from a system of interconnected firms, (research) organisations and users all operating within an institutional environment that supports the building and strengthening of skills, knowledge and experience, and further enhances the interconnectedness of such players. Successful development and adoption of low-carbon technologies in developing countries depends on the presence of appropriate policies and innovation systems. Appropriateness means they are responsive to their local context in terms of available resources, comparative advantages, societal characteristics and cultural practices. Innovation skills and knowledge should be built in tandem with the adoption of low-carbon technologies and practices. An advantage for poorer developing nations stems from the weaker entrenchment of vested interests and less well established energy infrastructures. These provide opportunities for more easily steering development in low-carbon directions, avoiding the high-carbon pathways that industrialised countries have taken. International initiatives could help to build low-carbon innovation systems in developing countries, but they should align with national policies of countries in order to better enable self-determined low-carbon innovation.

Lessons from China: building technological capabilities for low carbon technology transfer and development

Climatic Change, 2014

Lessons from China: Building technological capabilities for low carbon technology transfer and de... more Lessons from China: Building technological capabilities for low carbon technology transfer and development Abstract Using case study analysis across three sectors in China (cement, electric vehicles and coal fired electricity generation) and theoretical insights from the innovation studies literature, this paper analyses the development of China's technological capabilities in low carbon technologies and the ways in which public policies have contributed to developing these capabilities. It finds that China has developed significant capabilities via a strategic approach. The paper's findings have significant implications for international policies designed to support low carbon technology transfer to developing countries and broader processes of low carbon technological change and development. Such policies should go beyond the traditional focus on the transfer of technology hardware to focus on the development of low carbon technological capabilities in developing country firms.

Intellectual property rights and low carbon technology transfer: Conflicting discourses of diffusion and development

Global Environmental Change, 2010

(D.G. Ockwell). 1 Technology transfer also occurs in relation to adaptation technologies but the ... more (D.G. Ockwell). 1 Technology transfer also occurs in relation to adaptation technologies but the focus of this paper is on technologies for mitigation. 2 It is important to note that a lack of effective technology transfer to the developing world (and particularly least developing countries) is not limited to low carbon technologies. See Foray 2008, cited in Oliva (2008, p. 3), which looks at technology transfer to least developed countries more broadly, within the context of the World Trade Organization (WTO). 3 The Group of 77, established in 1964, as well as China, often referred to G77/ China, is the name of the key bloc of developing nations within the UNFCCC process.

Low carbon development: The role of local innovative capabilities

About the paper The term development is synonymous with economic growth. Theory and empirical e... more

Energy Pathways in Low-Carbon Development: From Technology Transfer to Socio-Technical Transformation

The relationships between energy and development are complex, compounded by increasingly differen... more The relationships between energy and development are complex, compounded by increasingly differentiated situations amongst developing countries and within them. Moreover, the manner in which energy services are realised has consequences for our health, environment, wealth, and social relations. Two important issues currently preoccupying the realm of international development are enhancing energy access whilst simultaneously addressing climate change. International climate change negotiations ...

Low carbon innovation and technology transfer

Low Carbon Development, 2013

Low carbon technology transfer is considered to be a fundamental pillar in realizing effective lo... more Low carbon technology transfer is considered to be a fundamental pillar in realizing effective low carbon development. At the same time, the general view is that current efforts aimed at eliciting low carbon technology transfer – focusing on financing equipment or ‘hardware’ – have largely been ineffective. We suggest that a more systemic approach is warranted, given the complex nature of the phenomenon. Specifically, there is a need to build innovation capacity and to align low carbon technologies with the needs and peculiarities of their social environs. We conclude with some emerging ideas, such as engaging local stakeholders and innovation centres, as potential ways to facilitate effective technology transfer, and ultimately low carbon development.

Science Communication

Regional, and Local Solutions

Chapter 1 Introduction

Despite decades of effort and billions of dollars spent, two thirds of people in sub-Saharan Afri... more Despite decades of effort and billions of dollars spent, two thirds of people in sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to electricity, a vital pre-cursor to economic development and poverty reduction. Ambitious international policy commitments seek to address this, but scholarship has failed to keep pace with policy ambitions, lacking both the empirical basis and the theoretical perspective to inform such transformative policy aims. Sustainable Energy for All aims to fill this gap. Through detailed historical analysis of the Kenyan solar PV market the book demonstrates the value of a new theoretical perspective based on Socio-Technical Innovation System Building. Importantly, the book goes beyond a purely academic critique to detail exactly how a Socio-Technical Innovation System Building approach might be operationalized in practice, facilitating both a detailed plan for future comparative research as well as a clear agenda for policy and practice. Chapter 1 of this book is freely a...

Debunking free market myths: transforming pro-poor, sustainable energy access for climate compatible development

International policy is fixated with private sector entrepreneurship as the means through which d... more International policy is fixated with private sector entrepreneurship as the means through which development problems, including climate compatible development, can be addressed. Based on CDKN funded research, this chapter presents an in-depth historical analysis of the development of the oft lauded (but, as we demonstrate, little understood) success of the Kenyan off grid photovoltaic market. The analysis clearly demonstrates that mainstream policy assumptions of this market being an example of a free market success story are fundamentally flawed. In fact, the market developed through a long process of targeted capacity building via donor investment. The chapter challenges mainstream assumptions and reveals fundamental insights for how future policy interventions might proceed.

Making Climate Finance work for Africa: Using NDC's to Leverage Climate Relevant Innovation System Builders (CRIBS): Training Brief 1: Why Focus on Building Innovation Systems?

The Political Economy of State-led Energy Transformations: Lessons from Solar PV in Kenya and China

Amid talk of the need for a low carbon 'clean energy revolution' to address the challenges of ene... more Amid talk of the need for a low carbon 'clean energy revolution' to address the challenges of energy poverty and climate change, there is growing academic and policy interest in understanding the role of key actors that are expected to enable transitions and transformations towards a low carbon economy in a pro-poor way. Within the socio-technical transitions literature, there has been increased interest in "the state" as the primary actor with the responsibility, authority and capacity to address these issues. But understanding the role of the state in energy transformations requires an appreciation of context: what is possible given enormous differences in capacity and resources, autonomy and uneven access to different energy sources and technologies. Which technologies and energy systems receive support, whose energy needs get prioritised and which actors are charged with the responsibility for meeting energy needs are a function of very different decision-making processes, political systems and political economies. Taking the case of support to solar PV in China and Kenya, we develop a political economy analysis of state-led energy transformations which seeks to explore how different aspects of statehood impact upon the nature and prospects of the sorts of transformations now urgently required of energy systems. We do so by examining political economy dynamics in relation to: (i) the organisation of the state; (ii) the political nature of the state; and (iii) the state in the global political economy. This raises questions about the viability and desirability of generic prescriptions for "managed transitions" in light of such diversity in state forms and functions, the different ways in which they interact with energy systems and the evident limits of the sorts of transitions and transformations that states alone can steer, manage or impose. It thus speaks to broader debates about the politics of "care" vs. "control" in transformations to sustainability.

Structured Collaboration Across a Transformative Knowledge Network—Learning Across Disciplines, Cultures and Contexts?

Sustainability, 2020

Realising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will require transformative changes at micro, ... more Realising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will require transformative changes at micro, meso and macro levels and across diverse geographies. Collaborative, transdisciplinary research has a role to play in documenting, understanding and contributing to such transformations. Previous work has investigated the role of this research in Europe and North America, however the dynamics of transdisciplinary research on ‘transformations to sustainability’ in other parts of the world are less well-understood. This paper reports on an international project that involved transdisciplinary research in six different hubs across the globe and was strategically designed to enable mutual learning and exchange. It draws on surveys, reports and research outputs to analyse the processes of transdisciplinary collaboration for sustainability that took place between 2015–2019. The paper illustrates how the project was structured in order to enable learning across disciplines, cultures and context...

Transformative Pathways to Sustainability, 2021

A political economy of niche-building: Neoliberal-developmental encounters in photovoltaic electrification in Kenya

Energy Research & Social Science, 2018

International agreements on energy access and climate change, formulated according to neoliberal ... more International agreements on energy access and climate change, formulated according to neoliberal orthodoxy, will drive significant finance to developing countries for clean technology investments. But critics call for more active state intervention-a developmental approach-arguing that free markets alone will not deliver what is required. This creates the potential for confrontation between contradictory ideologies in national policymaking and implementation: neoliberalism in global agreements versus developmentalism in national policy. The Kenyan photovoltaics (PV) market has long-experienced neoliberal-developmental policy interactions, reflecting on which can illuminate how such encounters might unfold in the future. We construct a new 'niche political economy' theoretical framework to analyse these past interactions, constituting one of three contributions we offer. The second is empirical, showing how PV practitioners, national policymakers and global development actors have negotiated their policymaking encounters over time. Our third contribution offers reflections on the issues explored, discussing what this might mean for future neoliberal-developmental encounters. We find that action on the ground will emerge from messy negotiated interactions between competing ideologies rather than be determined by powerful neoliberal actors. As such, realising global energy and climate ambitions becomes even more uncertain unless long-term active nichebuilding resources are secured in international agreements.

Rethinking the sustainability and institutional governance of electricity access and mini-grids: Electricity as a common pool resource

Energy Research & Social Science, 2018

Rethinking the sustainability and institutional governance of electricity access and mini-grids: ... more

Sustainable energy for all or sustainable energy for men? Gender and the construction of identity within climate technology entrepreneurship in Kenya

Progress in Development Studies, 2017

As international climate and development policy and funding efforts accelerate, this article arti... more As international climate and development policy and funding efforts accelerate, this article articulates an urgent new research agenda aimed at redressing the existing failure of policy and research to attend to gender in relation to climate mitigation (as opposed to adaptation). Focusing on the transfer and uptake of low carbon energy technologies, including a review of the literature on women and entrepreneurship and critical discourse analysis of the treatment of climate technology entrepreneurs by infoDev (World Bank) in Kenya, the prevalence of private sector entrepreneurial approaches to climate and development policy and practice in this field is demonstrated to be reinforcing gendered power imbalances.

Sustainable energy for whom? Governing pro-poor, low carbon pathways to development: Lessons from solar PV in Kenya

Financing Sustainable Energy for All: Pay-as-you-go vs. traditional solar finance approaches in Kenya

This paper focuses on finance for Solar Home Systems (SHSs) in Kenya and asks to what extent emer... more This paper focuses on finance for Solar Home Systems (SHSs) in Kenya and asks to what extent emerging new finance approaches are likely to address the shortcomings of past approaches. Drawing on the STEPS Pathways Approach we adopt a framing that understands finance within a broader socio-technical context as a necessary but not sufficient component of achieving alternative pathways to sustainable energy access. The paper contributes in four ways. Firstly, it presents a comprehensive overview of past and new emerging approaches to financing SHSs in Kenya and their relative strengths and weaknesses. Secondly, it represents one of the first attempts in the literature to analyse the potential of new, real time monitoring technologies and pay as you go finance models to overcome the barriers faced by conventional consumer finance models for off-grid renewable energy technologies (RETs). Thirdly, by applying for the first time we are aware of a socio-technical approach, via the application of Strategic Niche Management (SNM) theory, to analyse the finance of RETs in developing countries, the analysis considers finance in the context of the social practices poor people seek to fulfil via access to the energy services that off-grid RETs provide, and the ways in which people previously paid for these services (e.g. via kerosene for lighting). This also situates the analysis within the understanding of SHSs as a niche that has to compete with the established regime of energy service provision and its attendant social and political institutional support. The paper therefore also contributes to the small but expanding body of literature that seeks to operationalise socio-technical transitions thinking and SNM within a developing country context.

Low carbon technology transfer: lessons from India and China

Low carbon technology transfer to developing countries has a central role to play in mitigating c... more Low carbon technology transfer to developing countries has a central role to play in mitigating carbon emissions. It is a key issue for the international negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The promise of access to low carbon technologies was an important incentive for developing nations to support the UNFCCC in 1992. Although the Convention was intended to facilitate low carbon technology transfer, its success in achieving this has been limited, Many developing nations have expressed frustration that their expectations have not been met. Policybriefing Low Carbon Technology Transfer: Lessons from India and China Key messages • Low carbon technology transfer is an essential component of the UNFCCC negotiations. However, it should be analysed and supported as a component of wider processes of low carbon innovation in developing countries.

Innovation systems in developing countries

This paper provides a review of what every developing-country policymaker should know about low-c... more This paper provides a review of what every developing-country policymaker should know about low-carbon innovation. It explains what is unique about low-carbon innovation, why low-carbon innovation systems matter, and in what ways they need to be strengthened. However, building low-carbon innovation systems is a resource-intensive and long term endeavour, the outcomes of which are neither guaranteed nor predictable, and no single approach fits all national contexts. To mitigate the risky nature of building innovation systems, the public sector needs to provide financial support alongside private sector investments. Innovations emerge from a system of interconnected firms, (research) organisations and users all operating within an institutional environment that supports the building and strengthening of skills, knowledge and experience, and further enhances the interconnectedness of such players. Successful development and adoption of low-carbon technologies in developing countries depends on the presence of appropriate policies and innovation systems. Appropriateness means they are responsive to their local context in terms of available resources, comparative advantages, societal characteristics and cultural practices. Innovation skills and knowledge should be built in tandem with the adoption of low-carbon technologies and practices. An advantage for poorer developing nations stems from the weaker entrenchment of vested interests and less well established energy infrastructures. These provide opportunities for more easily steering development in low-carbon directions, avoiding the high-carbon pathways that industrialised countries have taken. International initiatives could help to build low-carbon innovation systems in developing countries, but they should align with national policies of countries in order to better enable self-determined low-carbon innovation.

Lessons from China: building technological capabilities for low carbon technology transfer and development

Climatic Change, 2014

Lessons from China: Building technological capabilities for low carbon technology transfer and de... more Lessons from China: Building technological capabilities for low carbon technology transfer and development Abstract Using case study analysis across three sectors in China (cement, electric vehicles and coal fired electricity generation) and theoretical insights from the innovation studies literature, this paper analyses the development of China's technological capabilities in low carbon technologies and the ways in which public policies have contributed to developing these capabilities. It finds that China has developed significant capabilities via a strategic approach. The paper's findings have significant implications for international policies designed to support low carbon technology transfer to developing countries and broader processes of low carbon technological change and development. Such policies should go beyond the traditional focus on the transfer of technology hardware to focus on the development of low carbon technological capabilities in developing country firms.

Intellectual property rights and low carbon technology transfer: Conflicting discourses of diffusion and development

Global Environmental Change, 2010

(D.G. Ockwell). 1 Technology transfer also occurs in relation to adaptation technologies but the ... more (D.G. Ockwell). 1 Technology transfer also occurs in relation to adaptation technologies but the focus of this paper is on technologies for mitigation. 2 It is important to note that a lack of effective technology transfer to the developing world (and particularly least developing countries) is not limited to low carbon technologies. See Foray 2008, cited in Oliva (2008, p. 3), which looks at technology transfer to least developed countries more broadly, within the context of the World Trade Organization (WTO). 3 The Group of 77, established in 1964, as well as China, often referred to G77/ China, is the name of the key bloc of developing nations within the UNFCCC process.

Low carbon development: The role of local innovative capabilities

About the paper The term development is synonymous with economic growth. Theory and empirical e... more

Energy Pathways in Low-Carbon Development: From Technology Transfer to Socio-Technical Transformation

The relationships between energy and development are complex, compounded by increasingly differen... more The relationships between energy and development are complex, compounded by increasingly differentiated situations amongst developing countries and within them. Moreover, the manner in which energy services are realised has consequences for our health, environment, wealth, and social relations. Two important issues currently preoccupying the realm of international development are enhancing energy access whilst simultaneously addressing climate change. International climate change negotiations ...

Low carbon innovation and technology transfer

Low Carbon Development, 2013

Low carbon technology transfer is considered to be a fundamental pillar in realizing effective lo... more Low carbon technology transfer is considered to be a fundamental pillar in realizing effective low carbon development. At the same time, the general view is that current efforts aimed at eliciting low carbon technology transfer – focusing on financing equipment or ‘hardware’ – have largely been ineffective. We suggest that a more systemic approach is warranted, given the complex nature of the phenomenon. Specifically, there is a need to build innovation capacity and to align low carbon technologies with the needs and peculiarities of their social environs. We conclude with some emerging ideas, such as engaging local stakeholders and innovation centres, as potential ways to facilitate effective technology transfer, and ultimately low carbon development.

Science Communication

Regional, and Local Solutions