Essential environmental technologies: first workshop

The first meeting of experts on this project was held in Edinburgh on 9 and 10 June 2010. Many thanks to all experts, and also to Lorna Gallacher and Katie Fitzgerald.

The slides and some written presentations are all on the "Publications and outputs" section of the website and I am preparing a first draft of our working paper, with excellent support from Katie.

Initial themes are two fold: if there is a technology which has a significant effect on climate change - either in relation to response or monitoring - then IP can have a strong impact, and the use of human rights and competition to address this may be of value; in most cases, however, new technologies are of much less value than changes in practices, use of insulation etc - so it is unlikely that many/any technologies will be essential. [NB we had fascinating discussions about the meaning of both "essential" and "technology".] Much might still be gained, however, by encouraging new forms of partnership and business models, to enable wider access to technologies which although not groundbreaking can play an important role. But does it all come down to the finance?