International Partnership on IP and SDGs

Beyond technology, IP is an important element in the realization of other domestic public policy objectives.

To avoid conflict, governments need to design coherent domestic policies and pursue international cooperation. Countries are engaged at regional and multilateral levels on various issues of technology, IP, and investment as part of negotiations on global challenges including climate change or initiatives to tackle anti-microbial resistance (AMR).

They also engage in the implementation of agreements including the Convention on Biological Diversity as part of bilateral and regional trade negotiations.

UNCTAD’s work programme will focus on:

• New models of investment, for example, to tackle AMR.
• Consensus building at the international level on key questions, such as unilateral trade policy review mechanisms and multilateralism, and other issues suggested by member states.
• Research, analysis and policy advice on the implications of regional trade agreements on public policy topics such as public health, the environment, cultural protection and industrial development and on how to implement international IP obligations in harmony with domestic public policy objectives.
• Consensus building on the role of South-South cooperation for supply of technology goods, specifically uninterrupted supply of pharmaceuticals and their intermediaries and for the transfer of related know-how.