Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)

International trade rules have significant impacts on environmental law and policy, at the domestic, regional and global levels. At the World Trade Organization (WTO), dispute settlement tribunals are increasingly called to decide on environment- and health-related questions. Can governments treat products differently based on environmental considerations? Can they block the import of highly carcinogenic asbestos-containing products or genetically modified crops?

There is an urgent need for concrete steps to foster the mutual supportiveness of the objectives embodied in the Convention on Biological Diversity and multilateral trade rules under the World Trade Organization. Intellectual property is one area of debate where such efforts could be undertaken.

This paper addresses the environmental and developmental impacts of patent protection by specifically focusing on the global agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). While the TRIPS agreement serves as an important step in harmonizing international intellectual property systems, the author contends that it currently fails to properly balance public and private interests, especially in the gap between rich and poor.

Intended to promote effective application of the biodiversity Convention in coastal and marine environments. It is based in large part on the recommendation of the "Jakarta Mandate" agreed to by the Parties to the Convention at their Second Conference in Jakarta in November 1995 and which identified the major threats to marine and coastal biodiversity and the principal legal and policy measures needed to address them.