Innovation, the environment and the future

• Author: Jo Bowman
• Pages: 9-12

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The greenhouse effect and the issue of carbon-

neutrality are now part of a global dialogue –

never has awareness of the urgency of taking ac-

tion been greater. The task is nothing less than

radically changing the way we live and work. The

Royal Institute of International Affairs in London

says that to keep the rise in average global tem-

peratures below a critical 2 degrees Celsius,

global greenhouse gas emissions must peak be-

fore 2020, and be reduced to between 50 and 85

percent below 2000 levels by the year 2050.

The low-lying islands of the Maldives – extreme-

ly vulnerable to rises in sea level – are among

the first countries to commit to becoming en-

tirely carbon neutral. The government there is

switching to renewable energy sources such as

wind and solar power with the aim of hitting its

zero-carbon target within a decade. The South

Pacific Island state of Tuvalu has said it wants all

its energy to come from renewable sources by

2020. Norway’s government has pledged to be

carbon neutral by 2030; Costa Rica is hoping to

get there by 2021. And, in New Zealand, the

prime minister has said that, by 2025, 90 percent

of the country’s energy must come from renew-

able sources, and transport emissions must be

cut in half by 2040. Elsewhere, individual cities

and states have declared their carbon-neutral in-

tentions.

But if any of these ambitious targets are to be

met, it will take much more than good inten-

tions and community spirit. “Ensuring access to

climate-friendly technologies at affordable

prices is a critical issue for international public

policy – and one that cuts across economic, le-

gal, security and geopolitical concerns,” says Ilian

Iliev, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer

(CEO) of intellectual property (IP) consultancy

CambridgeIP. “It requires a critical mass of low-

carbon investment, innovation and deployment

that meets mid and long-term goals. The impli-

cations for corporate strategies and business

models are profound.”

Who owns the

low-carbon future?

The role that IP rights play in the quest for a lower-

carbon future is a contentious one. British think-

tank Chatham House, in its report “Who owns our

low-carbon future?” notes that, on the one hand are

proponents of stronger IP rights regimes that en-

courage innovation in climate technologies; on the

other is the argument that the IP system should be

made more flexible, broadening access to tech-

nologies, particularly in developing countries.

The Chatham House authors, among them Mr. Iliev,

are essentially in favor of strengthening IP protec-

tion. They argue that a patent portfolio can be used

to attract venture capital, bring about strategic al-

liances, provide protection against litigation and

create opportunities for mergers and acquisitions.

Appetite for low-carbon technologies has resulted

in a flurry of applications worldwide to register

patents on everything from stand-by lights for ap-

pliances that turn themselves off, through to new-

fuel cars and carbon capture. Analysis of the

Derwent patent database shows that, from 2003 to

2008, inventions for reducing power consumption

numbered 1,200, compared to just 481 in the pre-

vious five years – the number granted in 2008 alone

was 340. “It does suggest a major trend,” says Steve

Van Dulken, information expert with the British

Library Research Service. A search for patents relat-

ed to reducing the power consumption of appli-

ances in stand-by mode reveals even more marked

growth – from a total of only four between 1984

and 1988, to 62 between 2002 and 2008.

“What we see happening is typical of any kind of

technology – the deployment of different types of

technology very much grows in line with patent fil-

ing,” says Alan MacDougall, a partner with IP attor-

neys Mathys & Squire. Patents relating to photo-

voltaic cells and wind power have risen, for

example, he says, from between 300 and 400 a year,

to closer to 1,600 filings per year. “There’s a very,

INNOVATION,

THE ENVIRONMENT

AND THE FUTURE

Innovative companies and individual bright sparks are creating new technologies that will help reduce

global carbon emissions. Jo Bowman reports on how IP links the world in its search for a response to the

global challenge of climate change.