Category Environment

Panel Calls For An Ethical Framework For IP And Climate Change

BANGKOK - Normal negotiation strategy is unlikely to result in an impact on climate change, since the most important stakeholders in fighting it - not yet born - have no seat at the negotiating tables, said a panel last week in Bangkok. An ethical approach is a better way to achieve results, speakers said, and an ethical take on intellectual property rights and alternative forms of innovation may have a place in new climate-friendly economic models.

Bangkok Climate Meeting Leaves Political Issues, Compulsory Licences Unresolved

BANGKOK – Humanity may be facing the single greatest threat to its future in history, yet significant political disagreements still stand in the way of common action needed to combat what will be a common crisis. One potential blocking point appears to be whether compulsory licensing may be encouraged for poor countries needing climate technologies.

IP Rights In Agriculture: High Stakes, Entrenched Positions At WTO Public Forum

The economic, climate and food crises were on the lips of speakers at the 2009 World Trade Organization Public Forum last week. Suggestions for better global governance were sought from stakeholders who took the podium in different sessions, and trade in agriculture was a focal point of the event.

New Text Shows Delegates Must Overcome Conceptual Differences On IP, Climate

BANGKOK – Delegates gathered in Thailand to try and pull together a slow-moving UN negotiation on a plan to fight climate change have yet to bridge fundamental conceptual differences on key issues, including intellectual property. The vast majority of consensus found so far at the two-week informal gathering has been textual rather than political, said several participants.

Biotech Legislative Agenda: Healthcare, Energy, Patents And Capital

The United States Congress and biotechnology industry are currently focused on healthcare reform, but biotech is also looking to the future at energy reform, patent reform and other intellectual property-related legislative priorities still on its agenda.

IP Protection No Barrier To Green Technology Transfer, Says Key Negotiator

BANGKOK – Protection of intellectual property should not be a barrier in transferring technology needed by developing countries in helping them cope with the effects of climate change as most of the technology is currently publicly available, a key negotiator of the issue has said.

Bangkok Climate Change Meeting Aims For Draft Deal For Copenhagen

BANGKOK – Government officials and private stakeholders were urged Monday to strike differences from the 280 pages of negotiating text in preparing a draft that could become a global agreement on climate change in December 2009.

UN Conference Pushes Plant Breeding; Others See Food Security In Jeopardy

Participants at a recent United Nations conference on the role of new plant varieties and seeds in agriculture agreed that access to genetic resources and the protection of intellectual property rights are essential to sustain plant breeding. But key opponents not invited to the meeting claim that plant breeding will endanger biodiversity, sustainability and ultimately food security.

Technology Transfer Will Be Part Of Copenhagen Climate Deal

COPENHAGEN - Technology transfer is bound to be part of a possible new international climate deal at the high-level meeting in Copenhagen in December, according to officials. Meanwhile, international economists have concluded that such transfers constitute a win-win situation for developed and developing countries when it comes to combating climate change.

IP, Technology And The Next Green Revolution For Africa

Intellectual Property Watch asked Kanayo Nwanze of the International Fund for Agricultural Development to explain how to best create incentives for technology development aimed at helping smallholding farmers, how to achieve agricultural growth without damaging the environment, and how to use intellectual property to forward those goals.