Addressing Climate Change under GATT/WTO Regimes: Potential Legal and Policy Options under TRIPs
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37591/jiprl.v5i1.1057Keywords:
Climate change, Kyoto Protocol, Intellectual Monopoly, necessary evil, Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, Environmentally Sound Technology, WTO, TRIPS, Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, technology transferAbstract
According to the World Bank’s recent trend of trade statistics, it reveals that, there is almost 32 percent increase of global export of trade in goods since 2006 which amounted US$16 trillion in 2016. With a 10 percent increase, global export becomes US$ 19.67 trillion in 2018. Although it started declining in the later years due to global pandemic yet, with this expansion of global trade, the role of WTO has been debated by different researchers. Considering the sluggish progress of the global climate related undertakings, a dynamic climate negotiation under a multilateral trade and Intellectual Property (IP) regime which have binding commitments is realised. Given the background, this paper endeavours to develop an overarching argument on accommodating climate initiatives under WTO regime. A sharper focus has been given on the IP and climate change with an emphasis on the grant and exercise of patenting clean technologies within the context of the Agreements on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) with a view to exploring legal and policy options to address climate change. Finally, better reform to identify appropriate TRIPs standards and flexibilities would be suggested which would not unnecessarily hinder free flow of international trade, rather would be mutually supportive to face global climate challenges.
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