The purpose of this guidebook is to summarize the various steps in the implementation of a Technology Needs Assessment (TNA) and to be the ‘go-to’ document for national TNA teams, including TNA coordinators and consultants. It also points out the various materials that are available to guide and support project management and methodology further. We reflect upon the experiences of the more than sixty countries that have already drawn up TNAs and provide country examples to illustrate how the TNA project can be organized and implemented. A full overview of the TNA guidance documents can be found in section 7 and full electronic versions can be downloaded from the TNA project website.
A TNA can be defined as a set of country-driven, participatory activities leading to the identification, selection and implementation of climate technologies in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation) and/or vulnerability to climate change (adaptation). As a country-driven process, a TNA should not be conducted in isolation but rather integrated with other similar ongoing processes in order to support national sustainable development and, not least, the implementation of countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
As TNAs are also participatory in nature, it is crucial to involve all relevant stakeholders on the assumption that any given technology is more likely to be understood, accepted, supported and implemented at all relevant levels, i.e. from government ministries to farmers or households, if all stakeholders are involved throughout the TNA process. However, it is important to realize that stakeholders differ in nature because they represent different interest groups and should therefore occupy different roles, at different moments, in the TNA process; identifying them at an early stage is key to successful involvement and engagement.