Project Overview: Intellectual Property Regimes and Green Industrialisation
The Challenge
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Developing countries face the dual pressure of industrialising their economies while decarbonising to meet climate goals. Access to affordable green technologies is essential for this transition. Yet current intellectual property (IP) regimes create significant obstacles. Patents and licensing costs concentrate control in a handful of countries and corporations, leaving the Global South with limited access and widening the global technology divide. Without reform, this imbalance will stall green industrialisation and undermine collective climate progress.
Barriers to Access
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The barriers are systemic and multi-layered:
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Access costs include high licensing fees, patent bundling, and restrictive conditions.
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Transaction costs arise from complex negotiations, opaque legal terms and administrative burdens.
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Legal and institutional constraints - notably the TRIPS Agreement and “TRIPS-plus” deals, narrow the policy space for innovation-friendly reforms.
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Information and capacity gaps limit IP literacy, negotiation skills, and the ability to adapt or absorb technologies locally.
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South-South cooperation, while vital, remains underdeveloped, slowing the momentum for scalable alternative models.
Pathways to Unlocking Access
Equal International, in partnership with the Open Society Foundations’ Economic and Climate Prosperity programme, is advancing a Southern-led, co-created agenda for equitable technology diffusion. The project combines:
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Global analysis of international IP frameworks and initiatives such as WTO/TRIPS, WIPO, UNFCCC, and WIPO GREEN.
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Country-level case studies in Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa and China, exploring national IP laws, flexibilities and industrial strategies.
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An expert advisory group providing strategic guidance and policy relevance.
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Key informant interviews with diverse stakeholders shaping green industrial policy.
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Policy demand testing to align recommendations with real-world political and institutional dynamics
Our Distinctive Value
Equal International brings decades of experience in access-to-innovation policy, from global health to essential services, and applies a tested co-creation methodology to climate-critical technologies. We work across sectors to design inclusive, solution-driven strategies that address inequality and accelerate practical impact.
Learn More
Read our Discussion paper to learn more. It maps the global patent landscape, details how concentrated ownership limits access for the Global South, and highlights pathways such as patent pools, TRIPS flexibilities and collaborative IP models.