Intellectual property rights and climate change: principles for innovation and access to low-carbon technology
As the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting convenes in Copenhagen, Denmark, intellectual property (IP) rights remain a highly contentious issue that threatens the long-term prospects of these negotiations. Meaningful and sustainable reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions necessitate further innovation and deployment of low-carbon ("clean") technologies to avoid cuts in energy consumption that are politically infeasible and undermine economic development in developing countries. This note describes the need for consensus on IP rights in the UNFCCC negotiations; suggests principles for addressing the challenges and opportunities presented by IP in this context; and puts forward the broad outline of an approach that would facilitate the uptake of clean technologies, preserve incentives for privately financed innovation, and allow the Parties to address and move past the issue of IP rights in the UNFCCC negotiations.