Opinion Articles

20 Nov 2001 - 1:00de la mañana

"Global warming has become the great environmental worry of our day. There is no doubt that mankind has influenced and is still increasing atmospheric concentrations of CO2, and that this in turn influences temperature - but we need to separate hyperbole from realities in order to choose our future optimally..."

20 Nov 2001 - 1:00de la mañana

"From an Indian perspective, the moral is simple: if you have the intellect, you will want to protect it. Trips is part of the global tapestry of intellectual property protection that India and Indians now embrace...On this issue, WTO ambassadors should listen to the inventors, not the activists."

16 Nov 2001 - 1:00de la mañana

Quienes se oponen a las patentes insisten que estas crean monopolios y, por lo tanto, daÒan al consumidor. Sin embargo, el reconocimiento de la propiedad intelectual no crea de por s' un monopolio. Por el contrario, Èste se crea en el momento en que se inventa algo. Esa invenciÛn puede ser explotada comercialmente sin divulgar al p˙blico ning˙n detalle. Esa era la vieja costumbre latinoamericana de guardar celosamente los secretos comerciales dentro de la familia, pas·ndolos sÛlo a la prÛxima generaciÛn. Tales secretos comerciales est·n protegidos por el derecho consuetudinario tanto en Gran BretaÒa como en Estados Unidos.

15 Nov 2001 - 1:00de la mañana

\"Unfortunately, the outcome of Doha suggests that inventors in developing countries may only find true intellectual property protection in the first world. The costs and effort this inevitably entails would act as a serious disincentive to innovation, and those who did innovate would have little reason to cater to their own market under the threat of state sanctioned piracy.\"

14 Nov 2001 - 1:00de la mañana

Dr Nilsson examines the economic and environmental dangers of the "precautionary principle" - the idea that a substance should only be used if there is proof that it will cause no harm. Dr. Nilsson argues that legislation should be based on sound science, not blind 'precaution'. He laments the fact that Sweden has been at the forefront of pushing the precautionary approach. Dr Nilsson, an expert in biochemistry and radiation biology, is a senior toxicologist at the National Chemicals Inspectorate in Sweden and professor at the University of Stockholm, Sweden. He was previously employed by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, where he worked to reduce lead in gasoline. He has offered his chemical expertise to many developing countries, and his recommendations were incorporated into law in India.

13 Nov 2001 - 1:00de la mañana

Developing countries must focus their energies on what really matters to them: getting a decent agreement on reducing subsidies to agriculture in Europe, the US and Japan. For that, they need the support of the US. If that means abstaining from supporting Brazil and India on the intellectual property and public health declaration, then that is what they should do.

26 Oct 2001 - 12:00de la mañana

"Acid rain, global warming, polluted rivers, species loss, deforestation, falling sperm counts and desertification everywhere, the world seems to be going to hell in a hand basket.
Only radical changes in our lives and major population reductions can halt the decline. Or that's what mainstream green groups tell us. But former Greenpeace member and Danish academic Bjorn Lomborg says that's nonsense. In fact, the environment is doing much better than ever before..."

26 Oct 2001 - 12:00de la mañana

ACID rain, global warming, polluted rivers, species loss, deforestation, falling sperm counts and desertification everywhere, the world seems to be going to hell in a hand basket.

Only radical changes in our lives and major population reductions can halt the decline. Or that's what mainstream green groups tell us. But former Greenpeace member and Danish academic Bjorn Lomborg says that's nonsense. In fact, the environment is doing much better than ever