Framing a Multilateral Trade and Innovation Agenda to Advance the Sustainable Development Goals: The Intellectual Property Dimension

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) establish a framework for a broad-based and ambitious approach to multilateral cooperation for development. Even to approach fulfilment of these goals will require innovation and the effective application of the fruits of innovation in many areas of technology — notably energy, health and agriculture. Equally, the SDGs foresee an open trading system as integral to sustainable development. Linking trade and innovation with sustainable development represents, thus, a pressing priority for international cooperation, and raises direct practical questions about the effective use of the intellectual property (IP) system that is expected to serve at once as an element of a socially beneficial trading system, and as an element of an effective innovation system. Therefore, fulfilling the SDGs foresees an effective three-way linkage between trade policy, the innovation ecosystem, and the IP system. Innovation opens up new and more accessible avenues for international trade by, for instance, enabling some Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to reach out to global markets for the first time. Equally, international trade can contribute to the development of innovative capacity, for instance, through knowledge spill overs and access to inputs for innovation. Additionally, IP systems can contribute to a positive interaction between trade and innovation in support of economic and social development. These linkages are complex, in constant evolution, and show great diversity across different sectors and economies, while also requiring extensive collaborative networks across national jurisdictions. Given that the SDGs are established as a framework for multilateral cooperation, meeting them will not only require technological innovation and effective access to the fruits of innovation, but also continuing innovation in multilateral cooperation and governance. The COVID-19) pandemic has thrown into sharp relief the critical role of innovation systems for fundamental public welfare, and has highlighted the diversity of policy measures countries have deployed to ensure both innovation and effective access to the fruits of innovation.