Climate Change and Intellectual Property Rights for New Plant Varieties

Debates between developing and developed countries over access to technology to mitigate or adapt to climate change tend to overlook the importance of plant varieties. Climate change will increase the importance of the development of new plant varieties that can adapt to changing climactic conditions. This article compares Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) for plant varieties in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) Agreement, the UPOV Convention and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). It concludes that TRIPS Article 27.3(b) provides an appropriate degree of flexibility regarding the policy options available to confront climate change.