Intellectual Property in the Age of the Environmental Crisis: How Trademarks and Copyright Challenge the Human Right to a Healthy Environment

Abstract

In the face of the escalating environmental crisis driven by overconsumption, there is a growing recognition of the urgent need for environmental consciousness and a sustainable, circular economy. Practices like repair, refurbishment, and fashion upcycling have emerged as tangible efforts to mitigate the negative effects of this crisis. Perhaps unexpectedly, however, trademark and copyright laws clash with these endeavours, placing obstacles to sustainability goals. This paper contributes to the emerging literature devoted to studying this problem by undertaking the first in-depth analysis of the issue from a human rights law perspective. It specifically investigates the nature, scope, impact on, and consequences for intellectual property protection of the evolving human right to a healthy environment. Following a short introduction (1), the paper delves into the legal nature of obstacles posed by trademark and copyright protection to environmental sustainability (2), scrutinizes the human right to a healthy environment with a European emphasis (3), and proposes strategies for reconciling trademark and copyright protection with this fundamental right (4). The key findings are summarised at the end (5).