Climate Change, Intellectual Property, and the Scope of Human Rights Obligations

This article begins by looking specifically at the challenges that climate change poses to the traditional human rights framework, as well as the sources of human rights obligations in relation to climate change. The discussion then turns to questions of access to clean energy technology, and contrasts the issue to the debate over access to essential medicines. Next, the article focuses on prospective tensions with IP protections in the context of access to clean energy technology by applying various analytical frameworks grounded in human rights. The article concludes by underscoring the importance of the human rights analysis in mediating this tension and by cautioning against the creation of fortified IP protections that do not prioritize human rights considerations