Transferring Knowledge on cleaner production financing to developing countries: a UNEP case

The Project "Strategies and mechanisms for promoting investments in cleaner production in developing countries", implemented by UNEP/DTIE 1 has amid its objectives to build capacity of industry and financiers in assessing cleaner production (CP) based investment proposals, in selected pilot countries . The project has generated training programmes, mainly targeted at industrialists, government officials, financiers that have been tested in all pilot countries, have also a clear emphasis over Environmental Management Accounting (EMA). Based on the project's first field experiences, the article gives an overview of the main factors that conditioned the training material development process, such as the local political and legal framework, the stage of development the country's technology and productive sectors; the level of awareness amongst government, business and public. The article further embarks on reflections over the impactfulness of capacity building from developed to developing countries and the importance of ownership in this process. The author does not offer panacea solutions to an effective transfer of knowledge. However, she contends that a careful consideration of the political, institutional and cultural context of the recipients is a conditio sine qua non in attaining a know-how transfer. Some open issues such as performance monitoring and evaluation; stakeholders role in transferring technical knowledge like CP and EMA and "how" to developing countries, are left by the author(s) as a reflection and an invitation to the academic, political world and the donor community to join forces with practitioners and technical assistance providers towards a common end.