Genetic resources of the planet discussed in Paris
A meeting of the Working Group for Access and Benefit Sharing, established under the Convention on Biological Diversity, was launched in Paris.
The aim of the week-long Paris meeting is to take a major step forward in the negotiations on an “international regime” on access to the Earth’s genetic resources and fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from their utilisation and to try to define the basic outline of this regime. The EU-27 is represented by the Czech Presidency.
The Convention on Biological Diversity was signed at the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1992. In the Czech Republic, it came into force on 3 March 1994. The parties to the Convention, today numbering 191 countries, have undertaken to meet the following targets:
- Conservation of biological diversity
- Sustainable use of its components
- Fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilisation of genetic resources, including by appropriate access to genetic resources
As part of the implementation of the third objective, the parties to the Convention meeting at their tenth conference set themselves the target to adopt an “international regime on accessing genetic resources and fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from their utilisation” in 2010. This objective has been promoted especially by developing countries which, due to their rich biological diversity, often provide genetic resources without deriving adequate benefit from their utilisation. The new regime governing the management of the genetic resources of the planet is expected to be legally binding on a global scale.
There will be two more meetings of the working group ahead of the key 10th Convention meeting – in autumn 2009 and in the first half of 2010. If the negotiations are successful and the regime is adopted, it will come into force and will have a significant impact on the approach to and utilisation of genetic resources worldwide.
More information:
chm.nature.cz
www.cbd.int/abs/ir
www.iisd.ca/biodiv
Contact:
- Jakub Kašpar, spokesperson of the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic
- tel.: +420 267 122 040, mobile: +420 724 175 927; e-mail: jakub.kaspar@mzp.cz
Last update: 16.8.2011 15:35
