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Countries around the world are looking to implement policies and programs to deploy clean energy and reduce their carbon emissions. A new collaboration between the Clean Energy Ministerial’s Clean Energy Solutions Center and the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN), hosted by the United Nations Environmental Programme, will expand expert policy support to help developing countries bolster clean energy deployment.
As part of the Technology Mechanism under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the CTCN provides technical assistance to developing countries across a range of climate change mitigation and adaptation sectors. Through its Ask an Expert program and roster of clean energy experts from around the globe, the Clean Energy Solutions Center provides fast response policy assistance at no cost to government policy makers on clean energy supply, energy efficiency, and energy access..
Through this new collaboration, the Solutions Center and CTCN will coordinate efforts to strengthen technical assistance to developing countries. The Solutions Center will provide assistance on clean energy policy quick-response type requests to the CTCN, and the CTCN will provide assistance on requests to the Solutions Center that require longer-term, more in-depth support. The two organizations may also work jointly on in-depth policy requests.
The Solutions Center, which is co-led by Australia and the United States, has responded to more than 150 requests from over 80 countries, providing assistance with the development of renewable energy targets, feed‐in tariff design, energy access and rural electrification business models, and appliance standards and labeling programs. “The Solutions Center experts are authoritative leaders in clean energy from countries and institutions around the world," said Jonathan Elkind, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy. "By matching the requests for policy assistance with the specific expertise needed, the Solution Center is helping governments not only meet their own clean energy goals but also spur a global low-carbon economy."
The collaboration will expand the Solutions Center’s current network of global experts to include CTCN Consortium Partners and Network members, as well as experts from other technical institutions, to meet an expected increase in requests for policy assistance. “Through this collaboration, the CTCN will strengthen its technology assistance, from knowledge sharing to full-size technical assistance projects, that aid developing countries in implementing solutions to their climate technology challenges,” said CTCN Director Jukka Uosukainen.
Over time, the Solutions Center and the CTCN may extend their collaboration to address additional areas such as clean energy finance measures and investment mobilization, similar fast-response programs related to other mitigation and adaptation topics, and documenting and sharing best practices across countries.
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The Clean Energy Solutions Center, an initiative of the Clean Energy Ministerial, provides no-cost policy assistance, training, and tools to help governments, advisors, and analysts create policies and programs that advance the deployment of clean energy technologies. The Solutions Center is co-led and co-funded by the U.S. Department of Energy through support from the U.S. Department of State and the Australian Department of Industry and Science.
The Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) promotes the accelerated development and transfer of climate technologies for energy-efficient, low-carbon and climate-resilient development. As the operational arm of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Technology Mechanism, the Climate Technology Centre is hosted and managed by the United Nations Environment Programme in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and supported by 11 partner institutions around the world. The Centre utilizes the expertise of these institutions, as well as an international Network of civil society, private sector, and research institutions, to deliver technical assistance and capacity building at the request of developing countries.