Author: Martin Khor, South Centre

Date: June 2012

(Full paper available here) 

What is it about? The research paper provides background analysis of the role of the intellectual property rights in the context of climate change and technology. The paper discusses on contexts and recent negotiations in Technology Transfer, Sustainable Development and Climate Change. In this context, the author recalls Art. 4.5, which stipulates that developed countries shall take all practicable steps to facilitate and finance transfer of and access to environmentally sound technologies and know-how particularly to developing countries and highlights the contradiction between this principle and the current state of play with regard to the patented and future technologies, those that do not belong to the public domain. The paper identifies three stages to be followed by developing countries in the process of technological development, and also analyses the possible hindrance of patents on access to climate-related technology and technology transfers by developed countries. Using case studies where developing countries were denied access to climate-related technologies held by firms in developed countries, the author looks at a number of measures to tackle these barriers.

Why we recommend reading it? Since the issue of IPR is a very controversial one it is difficult to have a substantive debate about it in the UNFCCC context. However, it plays an important role for questions related to the dissemination of climate-friendly technologies and there needs to be taken into account in general. Better understanding of the related aspects can therefore be helpful to inform the international debate.