Officials: Cancun technology-sharing deal possible

[November 10, 2010]  NEW DELHI (AP) -- Next month's crucial U.N. climate summit can yield agreement on a system for transferring funds and technology to developing nations but only if intellectual property issues are left for later, officials said Wednesday.

Mexico's Environment Minister Juan Elvira Quesada said there was a "very important advance" toward a technology deal during a two-day conference in New Delhi. But the contentious issue of how to share patented technology cannot be resolved beforehand.

Some 35 delegations that met in New Delhi -- including representatives of the U.S., China, the European Union and Japan -- discussed how to fund and share clean technologies to help poor nations cope with climate change and limit greenhouse gas emissions.

Delegates focused on setting up a governing body to manage the sharing of technologies across borders.

"Some technology transfer is necessary, and some countries are not in a position to pay for it," said Sha Zukang, head of the U.N. department of economic and social affairs.

The conference was the last major meeting before the U.N. climate summit opening Nov. 29 in Cancun, Mexico.

[Associated Press]

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