What’s at stake at Durban? We are.

By Kristen Hite Director, Climate Change Program In recent years we’ve seen global predictions on climate change becoming increasingly dire.  In recent weeks it’s gone from bad to worse:  The International Energy Association, often criticized for how its future projections of energy production rely too heavily on fossil fuels and nuclear energy just issued a … Read More.

Colombian IP Agreement continues to Raise Human Rights Concerns

During Colombia’s periodic review by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, specifically the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, several recommendations were made relating to intellectual property (IP) rights. The official UN report can be found here and CIEL’s publications relating to Trade Agreements and IP can be accessed here. … Read More.

Balancing or Swinging? Genes, ACTA and other Recent Developments in IP

The past thirty days have given those who follow developments in innovation policy quite a bit of material. First, on March 29th, a US district court (SDNY) held that neither isolated genes nor methods of analyzing or comparing genes were patentable subject matter in Association for Molecular Pathology v. US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). … Read More.

Technology Mechanism for Climate Change: Still in the Lab

The first set of 2010 climate change negotiations under the UNFCCC concluded in Bonn, Germany (April 9-11th) with no progress apparent on the Technology Mechanism referenced in Paragraph 11 of the 2009 Copenhagen Accord. In fact, the only real outcome of the meeting appears to be an agreement to hold two additional meetings for both … Read More.

World Bank discusses Trade and Climate Change

The World Bank, along with two other NGOs, held a panel discussion today on the trade implications of the ongoing climate negotiations. The final presentation, on Technology Transfer and Climate Change was the most substantive, as detailed below. The presentations did not address either labeling schemes, standards, border carbon adjustments, or subsidies. For an in … Read More.