Global Patent Activity for Climate Change Related Patents
The Cooperative Patent Class (CPC) Scheme includes a class specifically dedicated to climate change inventions. This CPC patent class is Y/02. The earliest patents granted with the CPC class Y/02 are in 2013. The two charts below show there is little difference between overall patenting activity and patenting in the CPC class Y/02 with an almost identical group of countries and rate of activity in the top 12 for each set of data.
See WIPO ST.3 to translate two-letter country codes.
See WIPO ST.3 to translate two-letter country codes.
Climate Change Patents by Country
| Country | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | 18 | 568 | 1.817 | 2.269 | 2.521 | 2.459 | 2.778 | 2.557 | 1.841 | 16.828 |
| JP | 6 | 265 | 925 | 1.185 | 1.410 | 1.201 | 1.289 | 1.068 | 736 | 8.085 |
| KR | 1 | 126 | 305 | 458 | 576 | 508 | 508 | 427 | 331 | 3.240 |
| DE | 2 | 99 | 362 | 425 | 491 | 455 | 520 | 488 | 328 | 3.170 |
| CN | 0 | 30 | 106 | 160 | 238 | 277 | 352 | 382 | 323 | 1.868 |
| FR | 1 | 55 | 133 | 153 | 217 | 192 | 228 | 200 | 102 | 1.281 |
| TW | 3 | 65 | 164 | 132 | 147 | 109 | 118 | 86 | 52 | 876 |
| GB | 0 | 13 | 54 | 109 | 134 | 126 | 157 | 139 | 97 | 829 |
| CA | 1 | 20 | 40 | 87 | 101 | 108 | 121 | 131 | 81 | 690 |
| CH | 1 | 10 | 50 | 68 | 97 | 71 | 91 | 79 | 55 | 522 |
| DK | 0 | 8 | 54 | 51 | 82 | 65 | 85 | 84 | 79 | 508 |
| SE | 0 | 15 | 41 | 33 | 67 | 87 | 110 | 91 | 52 | 496 |
| NL | 0 | 7 | 36 | 53 | 76 | 80 | 79 | 71 | 52 | 454 |
| IT | 0 | 8 | 35 | 25 | 43 | 46 | 60 | 41 | 33 | 291 |
| IL | 0 | 6 | 20 | 21 | 33 | 33 | 27 | 50 | 42 | 232 |
| FI | 0 | 3 | 17 | 30 | 25 | 35 | 39 | 50 | 21 | 220 |
| AT | 1 | 4 | 14 | 32 | 37 | 36 | 35 | 42 | 14 | 215 |
| ES | 0 | 3 | 29 | 27 | 24 | 20 | 23 | 23 | 16 | 165 |
| SG | 0 | 3 | 14 | 18 | 25 | 20 | 25 | 33 | 23 | 161 |
| BE | 0 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 31 | 21 | 31 | 26 | 21 | 154 |
| SA | 0 | 1 | 6 | 21 | 29 | 26 | 21 | 29 | 18 | 151 |
| AU | 0 | 2 | 19 | 20 | 25 | 15 | 24 | 24 | 20 | 149 |
| HK | 0 | 1 | 8 | 20 | 27 | 14 | 22 | 20 | 8 | 120 |
| IE | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 18 | 19 | 22 | 9 | 81 |
| KY | 0 | 0 | 8 | 16 | 13 | 8 | 11 | 16 | 6 | 78 |
| IN | 0 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 21 | 7 | 75 |
| NO | 0 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 65 |
| unkno | 0 | 0 | 8 | 12 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 1 | 62 |
| NZ | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 56 |
| BM | 0 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 51 |
| LU | 0 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 45 |
| ZA | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 28 |
| VG | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 23 |
| BB | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 19 |
| BR | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 18 |
| MX | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 17 |
| MO | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 16 |
| RU | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 15 |
| GI | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 15 |
| AE | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 13 |
| MY | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 12 |
| CZ | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| PT | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 10 |
| PL | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
| LI | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| TH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| IM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| TR | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| CL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| QA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| MT | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| HU | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| BG | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| EE | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| CO | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| CY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| SK | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| SI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| BN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| JO | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| BS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| GR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| GA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| MH | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| UA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| KP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| KW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| IS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| VN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| BD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| WS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| JE | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| RO | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| GE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| HR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| PY | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| PA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| PE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| EG | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| SC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| UY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| MC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| MU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| MA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| KZ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| LV | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| LT | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| IR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Transportation and Greenhouse Gas Capture Leads the Way
Breaking down the overall climate change patenting activity in to sub-categories shows that transportation and reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) are leading the way with the most patenting activity. Furthermore, a breakdown of climate change patents by transportation sub-classes shows that the road transportation category has more than 3 times the number of patents granted compared to air transportation, while marine and rail transportation have very little activity.
Climate Change Patent Grants Per Subclass
| Total | CPC | Class Title |
|---|---|---|
| 28876 | Y/02/T | CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION |
| 26964 | Y/02/E | REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION |
| 14534 | Y/02/B | CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO BUILDINGS, e.g. HOUSING, HOUSE APPLIANCES OR RELATED END-USER APPLICATIONS |
| 7915 | Y/02/D | CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES [ICT], I.E. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AIMING AT THE REDUCTION OF THIR OWN ENERGY USE |
| 5755 | Y/02/P | CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS |
| 2014 | Y/02/A | TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE |
| 1565 | Y/02/W | CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO WASTEWATER TREATMENT OR WASTE MANAGEMENT |
| 1132 | Y/02/C | CAPTURE, STORAGE, SEQUESTRATION OR DISPOSAL OF GREENHOUSE GASES [GHG] |
Climate Change Patents Per Transportation Subclass
| Total | CPC | Class Title |
|---|---|---|
| 9136 | Y/02/T/10 | Road transport of goods or passengers |
| 3119 | Y/02/T/90 | Enabling technologies or technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation |
| 2452 | Y/02/T/50 | Aeronautics or air transport |
| 104 | Y/02/T/70 | Maritime or waterways transport |
| 94 | Y/02/T/30 | Transportation of goods or passengers via railways |
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