Climate Technologies: Experts to meet in Bonn on Wednesday

Experts from around the world are gathering on 14 March at the UN in Bonn to discuss how to drive forward climate action by accelerating support for entrepreneurs who develop innovative new climate technologies.
Such technologies range from systems to grow plants without soil to the provision of sustainable energy in rural areas and are part of the global efforts to achieve the goals of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, which is to limit the global average temperature to as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Organized by the Technology Executive Committee (TEC), the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN), the interactive meeting will explore how to strengthen climate technology incubators and accelerators notably in developing countries.
Incubators and accelerators are “innovation labs” that support startups and entrepreneurs in different development stages of technology products or concepts. They are more than just co-working spaces to test ideas, as they have experts and mentors helping fellows develop their projects to a greater maturity by providing them with training, guidance and networking.
They also guide fellows with partnerships, business models and fundraising. Incubators can be important bridges between small innovative projects and their survival and success, and thus play an important role in supporting new low-carbon and climate-resilient technologies.
International Experts from Key Climate Action Institutions Will Gather in Bonn
A number of experts with experience on the ground will be present to share their views, including representatives and entrepreneurs from Chile, Ghana, India, Thailand, the World Bank Group, and the EU’s Climate-KIC. Their views will help to inform the Green Climate Fund as it develops a request for proposals on climate technology incubators and accelerators for consideration by the GCF Board.
The TEC and the CTCN are technology experts, helping to inform the GCF on key technology issues as the GCF explores how to support countries with financing to address these issues. The joint organization by these bodies highlights a new level of collaboration and linkage between the Technology Mechanism and the Financial Mechanism.
The event will be webcast live. Also, virtual participants are encouraged to now send their answers to the question: “How can we support entrepreneurs to speed up climate tech innovation?” through the Twitter hashtag #ClimateTech. The aim is to bring entrepreneurs and innovation stakeholders to the conversation so that the experts can take these virtual comments during the event and then nurture the online discussion with their feedback.