Intellectual property rights
Patents: taken for granted in plans for a global biofuels market
Patents could protect environment from bio-fuel investments
Authors:
S. Suppan
Publisher:
WTO Watch Trade Observatory, IATP, 2007
Understanding patent policy is crucial for predicting how the biofuels technologies can aid or hinder sustainable development. This article examines the influence that patents will have on the biofuel trade and stakeholders involved. The author anticipates that systemic patent reform is unlikely to occur in time to prevent the damaging environmental consequences of over investment in the sector. Consequences identified include:
- an acceleration in climate change due to reckless bio-fuels investment
- further degradation of biodiversity
- dispossession of land and genetic resources from indigenous groups
- reduction in the amount of land allocated to food security crops
To conclude, the author emphasises the importance of promoting tough environmental and social investment performance requirements for biofuels.
