Adaptation Technologies in Water Sector Demanded by Developing Countries and the Potential of Technology Transfer of SMEs in South Korea

Abstract

According to the Paris Agreement, the global including both developed and developing countries has responsibility not only to mitigate greenhouse gas emission but also to enhance capacity of climate change adaptation. For the response to climate change, developing countries have requested technical and financial support to developed countries. Water resource management is one of the crucial issues on adapting to climate change. A number of developing countries have suffered from water shortage for agricultural and domestic withdrawal, asking for technology assistance to improve water quality and water supply at local level. In this paper, adaptation technologies in water sector demanded by developing countries were provided by reviewing Technology Needs Assessment (TNA) reports that 79 developing countries submitted to the UNFCCC. Considering national indicators such as GDP growth rate and the Human Development Index (HDI), technology needs from developing countries were analysed. Moreover, this paper identified technology groups in water sector developed by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in South Korea that could be transferred and implemented to developing countries. By comparing technology needs from developing countries with the number of associated SMEs and carrying out expert survey, promising technologies in water sector that SMEs in South Korea have relatively high competitiveness in technology transfer to developing countries were determined.