Climate change discourse seats pre-eminently above other widespread menaces like crimes, poverty and terrorism; all of which have become major problems for humanity. This pre-eminence rests less on the fact that climate change is partly responsible for the increase in these other social problems, than the existential nature of its effect when left unattended. However, addressing the menace of climate change was initially very slow because of the different arguments it generated. It started with the arguments on whether or not there were actual changes in the climatic conditions of the earth that was worth serious discussion. Subsequently, the arguments about the exact causes of climate change, and on whom and how to apportion blames began to emerge. In spite of the above, some points about climate change have become trite. It is now agreed that there is an urgent need to tackle the effects of climate change collectively. The Paris Agreement for instance insists on a global goal of limiting global warming. Also, there is the consensus that, innovative technology can play a very crucial role in the attainment of the set goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions through innovations in green technology as climate solutions. This paper highlights the role of intellectual property rights as a major driver of technological innovations specifically designed to help in climate change mitigation, taking into cognizance the provisions of on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreements and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Green. The nature and forms these innovations take, from invention to innovation and diffusion of such technology were also highlighted in this paper. This paper also touched on the ‘debate’ mainly between the Developed countries like the United Kingdom and United States that see a strong protection of intellectual property rights regime as important incentives in propelling innovations in climate solutions, and the Developing countries like Ecuador, India, South Africa, etc., that see such as an obstacle in the fight against climate change.
Dimowo et al. (Mon,) studied this question.