When the Environment Becomes a Trade Issue

Is China is attempting to “steal” technology from the United States, or is it just asking for what it deserves? Politicians are clashing over whether developing countries should get free access to renewable energy and efficiency technology, or whether standard intellectual property laws should stand.

For several years, poor countries have been arguing that they can do little about climate change on their own. To reduce emissions, they say, they’ll need access to better technology. They can’t pay, of course, so the rich countries asking for emissions reductions should give out the technology for free.

Admittedly, that argument is pretty good if you’re Laos, say, or Djibouti. But what about China or India? The Chinese say they need technology from the United States, but politicians in the US aren’t having any of it. There’s our massive trade deficit with China, for starters. Congress, in a first move to prevent such tech transfers, has already made a unanimous vote against being forced to share technology by the Copenhagen Treaty, according to the AFP.

If the US is dipping into protectionism, China’s no stranger to that, either. The country has been busy setting up trade barriers that vastly favor its native solar and wind companies in contracts to build renewable energy projects. For that matter, there’s plenty of good technology on the loose in China, which might be useful elsewhere — although under the doctrine of “differentiated responsibility” China, as a poor nation, might not be required to contribute anything.

But despite the hypocritical slant of China’s arguments, it’s true that the US does have a much larger government research arm, which has plenty of tech that might be useful in curbing climate change. And if the problem is really serious, it might be no time to get riled about sharing. So what’s the right answer? Should China and Indiaget helpful technology, or should they take a hike?