7.11.2 Private sector

In September, 2004, the IPCC convened an expert meeting on industrial technology development, transfer and diffusion. One of the objectives of the meeting was to identify the key drivers of these processes in the private sector (IPCC, 2005a). Among the key drivers for private sector involvement in the technology process discussed at the meeting were:

• Maintaining competitive advantage in open markets;
• Consumer acceptance in response to environmental stewardship;
• Country-specific characteristics: economic and political as well as its natural resource endowment;
• Scale of facilities, which affects the type of technology that can be deployed;
• Intellectual property rights (IPR): protection of IPR is critical to achieving competitive advantage through technology.
• Regulatory framework, including: government incentives; government policies on GHG emissions reduction, energy security and economic development; rule of law; and investment certainty.

The meeting concluded that each of these drivers could either be stimulants or barriers to the technology process, depending on their level, for example a high level of protection for IPR would stimulate the deployment of innovative technology in a specific country while a low level would be a barrier. However, it was also recognized that these drivers were only indicators and that actual decisions had to consider interactions between the drivers, as well as non-technology factors.