India can play a leadership role to inspire developing countries in environmental policy-making, according to a new paper. Using its experience, India should further enhance South-South cooperation through an action plan including the establishment of a cooperation platform focussing on issues such as climate change, traditional knowledge, innovation, and intellectual property rights.

The policy brief [pdf] titled “South-South Cooperation and Environmental Diplomacy Options for India,” argues that India “could emerge as a key player in guiding multilateral processes and shaping the future of South-South Cooperation (SSC).” The brief makes several references to intellectual property rights.

Authored by Balakrishna Pisupati, adjunct senior follow at Research Information Systems for Developing Countries, Government of India, and former chairman of the Indian National Biodiversity Authority, the policy brief says that environment ministers have “lost control over their domain,” as critical environment issues are handled by the president’s or prime minister’s office in many countries.

The new environmental diplomacy includes factors such as the role of science, the complexity of negotiations, and equity issues, the publication says.

According to the author, this new state of play requires “countries to be more prepared when negotiating decisions at multilateral level.”

“Countries in the South traditionally have had limitations with understanding this changing dynamic and many times had to compromise on issues of priorities at national level while participating in the negotiation processes,” he said.

India’s experience in defensive IP rights protection through initiatives such as the establishment of the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) to prevent misappropriation of generic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as well as its pro-active IP rights policies on issues related to human well-being and national development, are relevant for a large number of developing countries, the brief said.

“India’s ITEC (India Technical and Economic Cooperation) programme is a pioneering effort in supporting SSC and encouraging partnerships, knowledge sharing and enhancing cooperation among developing countries,” the author said, but India could also set an action plan to strengthen SSC, he said.

The action plan would include widening ITEC to include more institutions, establishing a South-South knowledge corridor, and supporting capacity building programmes on environmental negotiation training and priority setting.

The policy brief is published by the Forum for Law, Environment, Development and Governance (FLEDGE).

Image Credits: Flickr – Jacinta Lluch Valero