Access to new technologies

Access to new technologies has helped developing countries leapfrog to higher levels of technology, allowing them to save resources and even facilitate activities which would otherwise not be possible without the supporting infrastructure. Although target 8.F focuses on information and communication technologies (ICT), it also encompasses access to all new technologies. As pointed out in previous reports of the MDG Gap Task Force and reaffirmed in various international conferences, it is also imperative that the international community come together to better provide other key technologies to developing countries, such as those for coping with the adverse effects of climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) enshrines commitments by developed countries to “take all practicable steps to promote, facilitate and finance, as appropriate, the transfer of, or access to, environmentally sound technologies and know-how to other Parties, particularly developing country Parties”.

Related Subject(s): Economic and Social Development