Climate Change Technology and the WTO: Will a TRIPS Waiver Support Technology Transfer

Technology transfer to developing countries requires a strong commitment to support the uptake of new technologies. This commitment is required from both developed and developing countries alike. It also requires a commitment from private corporations. There is a debate about whether intellectual property protection should apply where there is an international interest in sharing technology. On one hand, IP protection supports research and development by incentivising companies to incur costs associated with it. On the other hand, one could rightfully argue that where there is a technology available to potentially halt or reverse catastrophic climate change, then it should be openly available. Within my presentation I will suggest that the argument to suspend intellectual property protections provided by the TRIPS Agreement provides something of a distraction from more important debates surrounding mitigation technologies. Indeed, the contradictory ends of open trade and climate change mitigation requires urgent attention, to resolve the ongoing conflict that pursuing both objectives creates. Addressing this in a meaningful way again raises concerns about injustice and inequality, particularly when evaluating fears of carbon leakage. My presentation reviews arguments beginning with the claim that the TRIPS agreement strikes the right balance of protection between private interests and flexibility for WTO members when the agreement obligations are properly implemented at a domestic level