Intellectual Property and the Human Right to a Healthy Environment: An Introduction

With the effects of cli­mate change esca­lat­ing, there has been a notable increase in dis­cus­sions about the, at first glance, not obvi­ous impact of IP pro­tec­tion on envi­ron­men­tal sus­tain­abil­i­ty. At the same time, con­sid­er­a­tions of human and fun­da­men­tal rights in the con­text of IP pro­tec­tion are increas­ing­ly shap­ing the legal dis­course. Giv­en these two major trends in IP law – grow­ing atten­tion to envi­ron­men­tal sus­tain­abil­i­ty as well as to human and fun­da­men­tal rights – it seems that the time is ripe to explore what the human right to a healthy envi­ron­ment might mean for IP.