1 WTO, Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, ¶ 4, WT/MIN(01)/DEC/2 (Nov. 14, 2001).
2 Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights art. 31, Apr. 15, 1994, Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, Annex 1C, 1869 U.N.T.S. 299. 3 Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change, Advisory Opinion, I.C.J. Reports 2025, ¶ 73 (July 23, 2025) (General List No. 187), https://www.icj-cij.org/case/187 [hereinafter Climate Change AO]. 4 Climate Change AO, supra note 3, ¶¶ 73–74. 5 Climate Change AO, supra note 3, ¶¶ 224–229 (holding that, taking subsequent agreement of the parties into account under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties art. 31(3)(a), 1.5°C is the parties’ agreed primary temperature goal); see also House of Commons Library, Climate Change at the International Court of Justice (2026) (summarizing the 1.5°C and “best available science” holdings).
6 Govt. of India, Fourth Biennial Update Report to the UNFCCC (Dec. 30, 2024); India, Statement at COP29, Baku (Nov. 2024).
7 TRIPS Agreement, supra note 2, art. 66.2. 8 David M. Fox, Technology Transfer and the TRIPS Agreement Are Developed Countries Meeting Their End of the Bargain?, 10 Hastings Sci. & Tech. L.J. 1, 24 (2019). 9 TRIPS Agreement, supra note 2, pmbl.; Donald Harris, TRIPS After Fifteen Years: Success or Failure, as Measured by Compulsory Licensing, 18 J. Intell. Prop. L. 367, 382 (2011). 10 World Trade Organization, TRIPS and Public Health: Frequently Asked Questions,
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/tripsfacsheet_e.htm (explaining that the WTO General Council adopted the temporary waiver on 30 August 2003, that Members agreed on 6 December 2005 to incorporate the waiver permanently into the TRIPS Agreement, and that the resulting Protocol entered into force on 23 January 2017, inserting Article 31bis and an accompanying Annex and Appendix into the Agreement). 11 World Trade Organization, Canada Is First to Notify Compulsory Licence to Export Generic Drug (Oct. 4, 2007), https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news07_e/trips_health_notif_oct07_e.htm (reporting that Rwanda notified the WTO on 17 July 2007 of its intention to import 260,000 packs of a triple-combination antiretroviral (TriAvir); that the Canadian Commissioner of Patents granted Apotex Inc. a compulsory licence to manufacture and export the product on 19 September 2007; and that Canada notified the WTO of the licence on 4 October 2007). 12 Bronwyn H. Hall & Christian Helmers, The Role of Patent Protection in (Clean/Green) Technology Transfer, 26 Santa Clara Computer & High Tech. L.J. 487 (2010); Copenhagen Economics A/S & IPR Co. A/S, Are IPRs a Barrier to the Transfer of Climate Change Technology? (2009) (report commissioned by the European
Commission, DG Trade).
13 Communication from Ecuador, Contribution of Intellectual Property to Facilitating the Transfer of Environmentally Rational Technology, WTO Doc. IP/C/W/585 (Mar. 5, 2013). 14 Martin Khor, Climate Change, Technology and Intellectual Property Rights: Context and Recent Negotiations, South Centre Research Paper No. 45 (May 2012), https://www.southcentre.int/wp- content/uploads/2013/05/RP45_Climate-Change-Technology-and-IP_EN.pdf.
15 Kim Lukac, Compulsory Licensing for Green Technology Transfer (June 2017) (unpublished LL.M. thesis, Tilburg University), http://arno.uvt.nl/show.cgi?fid=142869; Ya-Lan Wang, Patent Protection for Green Technologies – Is Compulsory Licensing the Way of Promoting Technology Transfer? (Sept. 12, 2019) (MIPLC Master Thesis Series 2018/19), https://ssrn.com/abstract=3684342. 16 Neel Maitra, Access to Environmentally Sound Technology in the Developing World: A Proposed Alternative to Compulsory Licensing, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School (Dec. 2009),
17 Ronald Eberhard Tundang, Aligning Climate Needs and Intellectual Property: An Entitlement-Based Framework for Green Technology Transfer, 28 J. Int’l Econ. L. 441 (2025). 18 Jessyca Van Weelde, Xiaoping Wu, Ting-Wei (Alex) Chiang & Bassam Peter Khazin, Reflection on the Implementation of Decision on Implementation of Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement: Incentive for 19 Jorge L. Contreras, Bronwyn H. Hall & Christian Helmers, Pledging Patents for the Public Good: Rise and Fall of the Eco-Patent Commons, 57 Hous. L. Rev. 61, 76, 122–24 (2019). 20 Id.
21 Request for an Advisory Opinion Submitted by the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law, Case No. 31, Advisory Opinion (ITLOS May 21, 2024). 22 Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz & Others v. Switzerland, App. No. 53600/20, ¶ 573 (Eur. Ct. H.R. Apr. 9, 2024). 23 Neubauer v. Germany, 1 BvR 2656/18 (BVerfG Mar. 24, 2021). 24 The State of the Netherlands v. Urgenda Foundation, ECLI:NL:HR:2019:2007 (Sup. Ct. Neth. Dec. 20, 2019).
25 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties art. 31(3)(c), opened for signature May 23, 1969, 1155 U.N.T.S. 331 (entered into force Jan. 27, 1980). 26 Climate Change AO, supra note 3, ¶¶ 263–267 27 Climate Change AO, supra note 3, ¶ 148
28 See supra note 6.
30 World Trade Organization, Members Continue TRIPS Implementation Review Discussion, Address IP Notification Obligations, WTO News (Mar. 21, 2025),
reports).
31 Van Weelde et al., supra note 19. 32 Natco Pharma Ltd. v. Bayer Corp., Compulsory Licence Application No. 1 of 2011 (Controller of Patents, Mumbai, Mar. 9, 2012); Bayer Corp. v. Union of India, MIPR 2013 (2) 97 (IPAB); Bayer Corp. v. Union of India, 2014 (60) PTC 277 (Bom).
33 Novartis AG v. Union of India, (2013) 6 SCC 1. 34 WTO, Ministerial Decision on the TRIPS Agreement, WT/MIN(22)/30, WT/L/1141 (June 17, 2022) [hereinafter COVID-19 TRIPS Decision].
(reporting, as of July 2022, over 120,000 technologies, needs, and experts in the WIPO GREEN database, more than 2,000 registered users across 110 countries, and over 1,000 recorded connections between technology
providers and seekers).
36 World Intellectual Property Org., Decade of Green Innovation: Celebrating 10 Years of WIPO GREEN’s Impact on Technology Exchange and Climate Solutions (Nov. 28, 2023), 37 Decision 18/CMA.7, Belém Technology Implementation Programme, UNFCCC Doc. FCCC/PA/CMA/2025/19/Add.2 (Mar. 30, 2026); Decision 17/CMA.7, Review of the Functions of the Climate Technology Centre, UNFCCC Doc. FCCC/PA/CMA/2025/19/Add.2, ¶ 3 (Mar. 30, 2026) (extending the Climate Technology Centre’s term to the end of 2041); see also UNFCCC, A New Era for Climate Technology to 38 See supra Part III (discussing Fox, supra note 8, and Van Weelde et al., supra note 19).
39 See supra Part VI.B (discussing COVID-19 TRIPS Decision, supra note 35).
40 See supra Part VI.C and accompanying notes.
41 WTO Council for TRIPS, Extension of the Transition Period Under Article 66.1 of the TRIPS Agreement for Least Developed Country Members, IP/C/88 (June 29, 2021) (extending the transition period to 1 July 2034). 42 Tundang, supra note 18.
