Plans for a global centre to help transfer clean technology to poorer countries have drawn nine bids, including from Iran's oil industry and a team led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN climate forum said on Monday.

Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) backed the proposal at a meeting in Durban, South Africa last December.

Bidders to host the centre include a 13-member consortium led by the Kenya-based UNEP and whose ranks include energy research institutes in India, the United States and Netherlands, the UNFCCC said in a press release.

Others are the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), a Washington-based international funder of environmental programmes; Costa Rica's Institute of Technology; and Indonesia's National Council on Climate Change.

There is also a bid by the Research Institute of Petrolum Industry (RIPI) in Tehran, which carries out research for Iran's oil and gas sector.

Fossil fuels are the biggest contributor to global warming, which scientists say is inflicting worrying changes to the climate system.

The nine applicants will be whittled down to a shortlist of five next month.

In May, a UNFCCC expert panel will propose the winner. Final approval rests with the UNFCCC's annual ministerial-level meeting, taking place in Qatar from November 26-December 7.