Intellectual Property Rights and Green Technologies from Rio to Rio: An Impossible Dialogue?

Abstract

Though technology transfer and innovation feature in the outcome of the Rio 20 Summit, intellectual property rights (IPRs) - which are closely related to them - are barely mentioned. In contrast, Agenda 21, the blueprint for sustainable development adopted at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, included several provisions on IPRs. So why were countries not able to find any common grounds on the role of IPRs in relation to green technologies at Rio 20 as they sought to identify a path for accelerating sustainable development in the years ahead?

This policy brief seeks to answer this question by examining the evolution of the global debate on IPRs and green technologies from the Earth Summit in 1992 to Rio 20. It then makes some suggestions about how to foster a more constructive dialogue on this issue.

Keywords: Intellectual Property Rights, Climate Change, Patents, Technology Transfer, Green technologies, Rio 20, Rio,Sustainable Development

JEL Classification: O34