SDG 13 and intellectual property rights: a complex conundrum

Effective technology development and transfer will be crucial in order to achieve the objective of SDG 13 to combat climate change and its impacts. In this context, it must be acknowledged that intellectual property rights (IPR) play an important role in green innovation. There is a significant North-South divide on this issue of intellectual property, technology transfer, and climate change. The World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) have taken a position that promotes IPR as essential for innovation. The Paris Agreement 2015 has not addressed this issue of intellectual property and climate change adequately. By default, the mechanisms under the Paris Agreement 2015 are based on a traditional approach to IPR and innovation. Despite their rhetoric, developing nations in the Global South have not explored fully the available intellectual property flexibilities under TRIPS. Moreover, such nations could do more to promote alternative approaches and mechanisms in innovation and IPR. IP scholarship can address the conundrum of innovation and IPR and come up with solutions that can help achieve climate action under SDG 13. There is an urgent need to think and act beyond the business-as-usual approach in this issue.