Climate Change and Requirement of Transfer of Environmentally Sound Technology

Technology and policy play a twofold role in international environmental laws. Stronger environmental policies encourage new green technologies and likewise, better technologies make it easier to regulate. “Technology transfer” refers to the transfer from one party, an association or institution that developed the technology, to another that adopts, adapts, and uses it. As different kinds of threats posed by climate change are continuously increasing all over the world the issue of “technology transfer” especially the transfer of environmentally sound technologies has become one of the key topics of international environmental debates. This thesis addresses, firstly, the possible methods of technology transfer and secondly, how current international environmental laws play its role to facilitate the transfer. Accordingly, I have focused on the concerned provisions of Kyoto Protocol and its subsequent implementation measures. I have also taken in to account the decisions of the annual meetings of the Conference of the parties (COPs) of the UNFCCC. The thesis has also made a brief comparative discussion between the provisions of international environmental laws and the provisions of intellectual property rights in terms of technology transfer. However, at the last stage of the thesis, some potential recommendations are mentioned and briefly discussed in view to come up with a sustainable solution. In addition to the international environmental law, I have also tried to figure out some other international or multinational instruments which concern the transfer of environmentally sound technologies.