Agricultural research and innovation has been a major source of agricultural growth in developing countries. Unlike most research on agricultural research and innovation which concentrated on the role of government research institutes and the international agricultural research centers of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research, this paper focuses on private sector research and innovation. It measures private research and innovation in India where agribusiness is making major investments in research and producing innovations that are extremely important to farmers.

The Durban Climate Change Conference held last December 2011 had all the elements of a highly charged political drama: global leaders in a high-stakes game to save the world, the palatable tension over clashing interests, claims of sabotage and backdoor deals juxtaposed with impassioned demonstrations and panicky news blitzes, the climax into near-chaos, the last-ditch effort for compromise now known as the “huddle”, and, of course, the miraculous “save”. Then ominously, though probably anticipated, big questions emerge as the screen fades to black. This paper is divided into two parts.

Trade can have an important role to play in the mitigation of, and adaptation to climate change. The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) - are among those that have touched on this issue at various levels. The authors examine the various priorities and positions of these agencies and relevant developing country member concerns that have informed their responses.

This document details India's submission on work plan of the adhoc working group on the Durban platform for enhanced action including, Inter alia, mitigation, adaptation, finance, techology devleopment and transfer, tranparency of actions, support and capacity building.

The United States EPA is proposing new source performance standards for emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) for new affected fossil fuel-fired electric utility generating units (EGUs). The EPA is proposing these requirements because CO2 is a greenhouse gas (GHG) and fossil fuel-fired power plants are the country’s largest stationary source emitters of GHGs. The EPA in 2009 found that by causing or contributing to climate change, GHGs endanger both the public health and the public welfare of current and future generations.

This paper examines the effect of multilateral energy technology initiatives, so called "Implementing Agreements", on international research collaboration in seven important climate change mitigation technologies. The analysis is conducted using patent data on 33 OECD countries during the period 1970-2009. Find that co-invention is significantly affected by the membership in the Implementing Agreement. Extending adherence to other countries would increase co-invention by about 90% in the case of wind and fuel cells, and even more in the case of biofuels, solar PV and CCS.

A report, titled Growing Food, Products and Businesses, sheds new light on the ways in which agribusiness incubators are fostering the modernization and scaling-up of agribusiness in the developing world. The study is significant in light of the enormous potential of agribusiness to drive sustainable growth in developing nations—“four times greater” than the growth potential from other sectors, according to the World Bank’s 2008 World Development Report.