UNEP Risoe Centre has just released “Technologies for Adaptation: Perspectives and Practical Experiences” as part of its Technology Transfer Perspectives Series. Dr Katharine Vincent, Ms Tracy Cull and Dr Alec Joubert contributed a paper entitled “Technology needs for adaptation in southern Africa: Does operationalisation of the UNFCCC and associated finance mechanisms prioritise hardware over software and orgware?” This draws on Kulima’s experience in South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland, and argues that the UNFCCC and adaptation finance mechanisms inadvertently favour hardware (concrete infrastructure) over software (“soft skills” required to make behavioural and socio-cultural changes) and orgware (the institutional set-up and coordination mechanisms required to support the implementation of hardware and software).
