Publication

Though technology transfer and innovation feature in the outcome of the Rio+20 Earth Summit, intellectual property rights (IPRs) 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 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.