The Indigenous World 2026: World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

Written on 22 April 2026. Posted in World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

Indigenous Peoples have rights over their traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions and genetic resources, including associated intellectual property rights, as recognized in Article 31 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.^[1] “Traditional knowledge” generally refers to technical know-how, skills and practices developed, utilized and passed down within a community’s traditional context. Examples include medicinal, agricultural and ecological knowledge, as well as methods for doing things such as weaving and house construction.^[2] “Traditional cultural expressions” are the myriad forms in which traditional culture is expressed, including music, dance, stories, art, ceremonies, designs and symbols.^[3] “Genetic resources” are genetic material of actual or potential value found in plants, animals or micro-organisms. Examples include medicinal plants, agricultural crops and animal breeds.^[4]

Conventional intellectual property laws are woefully inadequate in protecting these rights. Indigenous Peoples’ intangible cultural heritage, ranging in forms from textile designs to traditional songs, medicinal plant knowledge and environmental conservation, is often treated as being in the “public domain”, and misappropriation by those within the pharmaceutical, fashion and film industries, among others, is widespread and ongoing.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a UN agency with 194 Member States, provides a forum for negotiating new international intellectual property laws. In 2000, WIPO Member States established the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC). From 2010, the IGC conducted formal, text-based negotiations to develop legal instruments for the protection of traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions and genetic resources. In a breakthrough development in 2024, WIPO adopted a treaty on genetic resources.^[5] Negotiations on traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions are ongoing. Indigenous Peoples participate in the IGC as observers and participate collectively through an ad hoc Indigenous Caucus averaging around 25 to 30 people per session.

This article is part of the 40^th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. Find The Indigenous World 2026 in full here

Overview

Background information on the IGC and Indigenous Peoples’ participation therein can be found in prior editions of The Indigenous World.^[6] In 2025, the IGC continued text-based negotiations on legal instruments for the protection of traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, holding two sessions. IGC 50 (March 3-7) and IGC 51 (May 30-June 5) took place at the WIPO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, and were offered in a hybrid format. As the concluding session of the IGC’s 2024-2025 biennium, IGC 51 also included stocktaking and developing a recommendation to the WIPO General Assembly for the renewal of the IGC’s mandate and work program for the next biennium.^[7] Indigenous participation in the IGC continued to be hampered by a lack of funding, despite widespread acknowledgment of the problem and a concerted effort to address it within the WIPO Program and Budget Committee. More countries signed up to the two WIPO treaties adopted in 2024 – the WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge and the Riyadh Design Law Treaty – although neither treaty has yet come into force.

IGC 50

The IGC’s mandate for the 2024-2025 biennium called for the IGC to continue its work toward the objective of finalizing an agreement on international legal instrument(s) to ensure the protection of traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions.^[8] IGC 50 was the second session of the biennium to take up negotiations on the traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions draft instruments. Because Member States at IGC 49 (December 2024) were unable to agree on text revisions to the draft instruments proposed at that session, negotiations at IGC 50 began with the same texts that were the starting point for IGC 49.^[9]

In accordance with usual practice, the WIPO Secretariat organized an Indigenous Caucus meeting the day prior to the session, and the Caucus met daily throughout, including in meetings with the IGC Chair, Regional Groups and individual Member State Delegations. An Indigenous Panel entitled “Traditional Knowledge and Climate Change: Views of Indigenous Peoples” was held on the opening day of the session.

IGC 50 was chaired by Ms. Erika Watanabe Patriota from Brazil. Ms. Anna Vuopala of Finland, who served as Chair of IGC 49, sat as Vice-Chair. With the new Chair came a new methodology, focused primarily on negotiations in “informals”. Under this methodology, Regional Groups and the Indigenous Caucus selected representatives to attend smaller negotiation sessions which, to foster open discussion, were not webcast or recorded. The informals were facilitated by Ms. Ann Edillon of the Philippines, who served as “Friend of the Chair”.^[10] Daily reports were made to the plenary summarizing the work in the informals.

Through this process, Member States were able to agree to some minor text revisions, including streamlining the text by deleting several alternative text provisions no longer supported by any Member State,^[11] capitalizing all references to “Indigenous Peoples” and removing all brackets around the word “Peoples”. In a key development, the Friend of the Chair captured the results of the work in a new proposed consolidated text, combining the traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions texts into a single instrument. This reflected the position of some Member States and the Indigenous Caucus that traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions are inextricably linked, and thus protections should be addressed in a more holistic fashion.

Despite the efforts of the Chair and an almost palpable desire among most Member States to avert a second consecutive session with the outcome of no consensus, Member States could not agree on forwarding the revised, consolidated text as the basis for further negotiations to IGC 51. In the end, Nigeria blocked a consensus based on the Chair’s decision to permit, in addition to the agreed-upon changes, the inclusion of language in Article 5 “Scope of Protection” introduced by the United States. The United States’ proposal focused on “measures” to “safeguard” traditional knowledge and cultural expressions rather than binding legal protections, which Nigeria viewed as compromising the “rights-based” approach of the article. The controversy highlighted a critical challenge in the ongoing negotiations, which is that Member States are pursuing competing, incompatible approaches to protecting traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions. Some Member States, and the Indigenous Caucus, support a “rights-based” approach with legally binding protections for Indigenous Peoples’ rights, while other Member States support a non-binding “measures-based” approach focused on utilizing existing intellectual property protections and developing and using voluntary guidelines and model contracts.

In other developments during the session, the Russian Federation’s proposal from IGC 49 that would have required Non-Governmental Organizations admitted as Observers to the IGC to submit documentation confirming their existence in the jurisdiction of a Member State – which had caused concern among some Member States and Indigenous Caucus members, and which was deferred from IGC 49 to IGC 50 – was once again deferred. A request for IGC accreditation submitted by the Russian Federation-based Center for the Study of Cultural Heritage Promoting the Sustainable Development of the Peoples of the North was denied, following an objection by the Russian Federation.^[12]

IGC 51

Following two negotiation sessions with no agreement on text revisions, IGC 51 once again began with the traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions draft texts that were the starting point at IGC 49.^[13] As the concluding session of the 2024-2025 biennium, the session was also tasked with stocktaking and negotiating a renewed mandate and work program to recommend to the General Assembly for the 2026-2027 biennium. Given the lack of agreement among Member States at IGC 49 and IGC 50, reaching agreement on the recommended mandate and work program was far from a foregone conclusion.

In addition to the usual Indigenous Caucus meeting the day prior to the start of the session, the WIPO Secretariat organized a second all-day preparatory meeting on the Sunday during the session. The Caucus also met daily throughout the session, including in meetings with the IGC Chair, Regional Groups and individual Member State Delegations. An Indigenous Panel entitled “International Legal Instrument(s) on Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expressions: Views of Indigenous Peoples” was held on the opening day of the session.

The session was co-chaired by Ms. Erika Watanabe Patriota from Brazil and Ms. Anna Vuopala of Finland. In anticipation of the challenges in reaching agreement on the mandate and work program, and the gravity of the consequences if agreement could not be reached, substantive text negotiations were limited to a single day of discussion in informals.^[14]

In addition to uppercasing “Indigenous Peoples” and removing alternatives no longer supported by any Member State, the revised versions of the texts resulting from the informals included new alternatives to capture Member States’ positions expressed during the negotiations, including an Article 5 alternative proposed by the United States embracing its measures-based approach previously introduced at IGC 50. Disappointingly, agreement was not reached to remove the brackets around “Peoples” in “Indigenous Peoples”, despite “Indigenous Peoples” being included with no brackets in the WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge adopted by WIPO Member States by consensus in 2024. The United Kingdom, in particular, indicated that it is not able to support recognition of the collective rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Despite concerns expressed by some Regional Groups and individual Member States at the rushed nature of the text discussions, and the inclusion of new alternatives viewed by some as “widening the gaps” rather than working toward provisions that could be agreed by all, in the interest of compromise and finding a way forward, Member States agreed to the revised texts as the basis for further negotiations. Importantly, new alternative provisions were bracketed in the instruments to document that they do not have the support of all Member States.

In one positive development, at the conclusion of the session, Member States were also able to agree on a recommended mandate and work program for the 2026-2027 biennium. Key features include: (1) the IGC will continue to discuss intellectual property issues concerning genetic resources and their interlinkage with traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions but will not do any normative work related to genetic resources during the biennium; (2) the work program will include three, eight-day negotiation sessions; and (3) the WIPO Secretariat will organize an Indigenous Expert Workshop sometime during the biennium.^[15]

In another development of note, the request for accreditation of the Russian Federation-based Interregional Public Organization Union of Indigenous Small-Numbered Peoples “SOYUZ” was denied, based on an objection by Ukraine.^[16]

Funding Indigenous participation

As noted, participation in the Indigenous Caucus remains limited, with only approximately 25 to 30 participants per session. WIPO has a Voluntary Fund to support the participation of Indigenous Peoples in the IGC; however, it is funded solely by donations and is frequently depleted. In June 2025, the WIPO Program and Budget Committee considered a proposal to address this problem by providing funding for Indigenous participation from WIPO’s regular budget. Despite receiving broad support, the proposal was unsuccessful due to the objections of a few Member States.^[17] Because the Voluntary Fund was once again depleted, no Indigenous representatives were funded to attend either IGC session in 2025.

Update on WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge and Riyadh Design Law Treaty

In landmark developments in 2024, WIPO Member States adopted two new international intellectual property treaties relevant to the protection of Indigenous Peoples’ rights: the WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge and the Riyadh Design Law Treaty.^[18] As of 09 July 2025, 44 Member States had signed up to the Genetic Resources treaty and two countries, Malawi and Uganda, had ratified it.^[19] Both the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples have urged Member States to become parties to the treaty.^[20] As of 11 July 2025, 25 WIPO Member States had signed up to the Riyadh Design Law Treaty but none had ratified or acceded to it. ^[21] Each treaty will come into force three months following its ratification or accession by 15 parties.

Looking forward

Negotiations on traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions will continue at IGC 52, 4-13 March 2026, and IGC 53, 16-25 September 2026. ^[22] The third and final negotiation session of the biennium, IGC 54, will take place sometime in March/April 2027.

Sue Noe is a Senior Staff Attorney with the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), located in Boulder, CO, USA. NARF is the oldest and largest non-profit law firm in the USA representing Native American tribes. Sue has attended IGC sessions since IGC 34 (June 2017) and served on the Indigenous Panel for IGC 36 and IGC 45. She can be reached by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

This article is part of the 40^th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. Find The Indigenous World 2026 in full here

Notes and references

^[2] “Traditional Knowledge.” WIPO, https://www.wipo.int/tk/en/tk/. Because the term “traditional knowledge” can be somewhat misleading, as it implies antiquity, many Indigenous activists, in their international advocacy in multilateral processes, prefer to refer simply to the “knowledge of Indigenous Peoples” or “Indigenous knowledge”. In the WIPO negotiations, Indigenous representatives emphasize that traditional knowledge is not confined to ancient knowledge but includes new and evolving Indigenous knowledge.

^[3] “Traditional Cultural Expressions.” WIPO, https://www.wipo.int/tk/en/folklore/

^[4] “Genetic Resources.” WIPO, https://www.wipo.int/tk/en/genetic/. Genetic resources found in nature are not creations of the mind and thus are not intellectual property. Intellectual property issues are, however, associated with genetic resources, for example in the case of inventions utilizing genetic resources or where traditional knowledge is associated with the use of genetic resources.

^[5] An update on the status of the WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge, as well as a second treaty of relevance to Indigenous Peoples adopted by WIPO in 2024 – the Riyadh Design Law Treaty– is provided below. For background on the treaties, see The Indigenous World 2025, April 2025, at 765-768.

^[6] See The Indigenous World 2019, April 2019, at 651-658; The Indigenous World 2020, April 2020, at 770-776; The Indigenous World 2021, April 2021, at 805-813; The Indigenous World 2022, April 2022, at 830-837; The Indigenous World 2023, April 2023, at 703-711; The Indigenous World 2024, April 2024, at 669-677; and The Indigenous World 2025, April 2025, at 764-772.

^[7] The IGC operates under two-year mandates, renewed biennially by the WIPO General Assembly.

^[8] See https://www.wipo.int/documents/d/igc/docs-en-igc-mandate-2024-2025.pdf

^[9] The texts of the instruments and all other documents from IGC 50, as well as a video of the session, are available at https://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=85308

^[10] In 2025, Ms. Edillon was named as the new Director of WIPO’s Traditional Knowledge Division, following the retirement of Mr. Wend Wendland. Mr. Wendland served as Director of the Traditional Knowledge Division from the very beginnings of the IGC and played a central role in all its work over the decades, including the 2024 adoption of the WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge.

^[11] To reflect all the differing positions of Member States, the draft texts contain numerous alternative formulations of the various articles.

^[12] See https://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/doc_details.jsp?doc_id=642602 (Decision on Agenda Item 3).

^[13] The texts of the instruments and all other documents from IGC 51, as well as a video of the session, are available at https://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=85309

^[14] If the IGC fails to reach agreement, negotiation of the mandate and work program is taken up by the full WIPO General Assembly. If the General Assembly fails to reach agreement, negotiations are suspended (as occurred in 2015) until agreement is reached.

^[15] The WIPO General Assembly approved the recommended mandate and work program at its meeting in July 2025. See https://www.wipo.int/documents/d/igc/docs-en-igc-mandate-2026-2027.pdf

^[16] See https://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/doc_details.jsp?doc_id=645831 (Decision on Agenda Item 3).

^[17] See Andres Izquierdo, “WIPO Budget Committee Concludes Without Agreement on Indigenous Participation Funding,” InfoJustice, June 23, 2025, https://infojustice.org/archives/46525

^[18] See The Indigenous World 2025, April 2025, at 765-768.

^[19] An active list of signatories and ratifications/accessions is available at https://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/treaties/en/docs/pdf/gratk.pdf

^[20] UN Economic and Social Council, Report on the Twenty-Fourth Session (21 April–2 May 2025), E/2025/43-E/C.19/2025/8, Official Records, 2025, Supplement No. 23, para. 80, https://docs.un.org/en/E/2025/43; UN Human Rights Council, Right of Indigenous Peoples to Data, Including with Regard to Data Collection and Disaggregation: Study by the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, A/HRC/60/66, 60th sess., agenda items 3 and 5, Annex Expert Mechanism Advice No. 18 (2025), para. 22, https://docs.un.org/en/E/2025/43.

^[21] An active list of signatories and ratifications/accessions is available at https://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/treaties/en/docs/pdf/rdlt.pdf.

^[22] See https://www.wipo.int/documents/d/igc/docs-en-2026-igc-schedule.pdf

Tags: Global governance