Leaders investigate how to equitably distribute the benefits of nature

Politicians, scientists, and environmental activists are meeting in Montreal, Canada, this week to negotiate a global agreement to protect the planet's dwindling biodiversity.

Some of these discussions are expected to center on how to protect the plants, animals, and microbes whose genetic material serves as the foundation for life-saving medicines and a variety of other products.

This is referred to as "access and benefit sharing," and it is governed by an international agreement known as the Nagoya Protocol.

Delegates at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, also known as COP15, will meet in Montreal to discuss how to update the agreement for the coming decades.

They plan to look specifically at how marginalized communities, such as Indigenous Peoples, can benefit from the often lucrative therapeutics and cosmetics derived from resources on their land.

This is becoming a more pressing question as rapid advances in genetic sequencing lead to breakthroughs in a variety of fields, ranging from medicine to agriculture.

We spoke with Patricia Kameri-Mbote, Director of the Law Division at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), about benefit sharing and how the Montreal discussions might play out.

What do we mean when we talk about the advantages of genetic resources?

Benefits can be monetary, such as royalties, or non-monetary, such as sharing research results.

The advantages stem from appropriate access to genetic resources and the transfer of relevant technologies. This includes an equitable distribution of the benefits derived from the use of indigenous and local communities' knowledge, innovations, and practices.

What international treaties address access and benefit sharing?

The Convention on Biological Diversity governs the sustainable use of biodiversity components as well as the fair and equitable distribution of benefits from the use of genetic resources. 196 countries have ratified it.

The Nagoya Protocol is another important multilateral environmental agreement on access and benefit sharing. The protocol improves legal clarity and transparency for both genetic resource providers and users.

What is the significance of the protocol?

It provides access to genetic resources or traditional knowledge related to these resources. Such access is granted on the condition that the benefits be shared equitably between the owner and the developer.

How does that work in practice?

Many gene-rich developing countries, farmers, and indigenous and local communities, for example, are genetic resource providers. Many developed or industrialized countries with highly developed biotechnology companies use genetic resources for commercial or research purposes, despite their gene scarcity. The use must be on mutually agreed-upon terms and include the prior informed consent of genetic resource owners, such as indigenous and local communities.

Discussions at the UN Biodiversity Conference are expected to center on advances in genetic sequencing. These enable researchers to mine the genomes of plants, animals, and other living things in real time. Why is this such an important topic to discuss?

Advances in research techniques have resulted in an explosion of genetic information that is becoming increasingly difficult to track and trace. Genetic information is also stored in a number of public and private databases. For example, content from the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration is distributed to over 1,700 public databases and an unknown number of private databases. All countries and stakeholders working with digital sequence information require legal clarity, certainty, simplicity, and collaboration, according to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

What countries have taken steps to put the Nagoya Protocol into effect, and what are the benefits?

In collaboration with the Global Environment Facility and other partners, UNEP has assisted a number of countries in ratifying the Nagoya Protocol and strengthening their national legal and regulatory frameworks. Gabon, Ethiopia, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, and Palau are examples of notable success stories. Countries that have ratified the Nagoya Protocol have reported increased legal certainty and transparency in access and benefit-sharing procedures, as well as improved monitoring of genetic resource use. The sustainable use of genetic resources has yielded several benefits, including biological, pharmaceutical, and nutraceutical resources, as well as traditional medicines and related traditional knowledge.

How do those successes manifest themselves in practice?

The collaboration between AstraZeneca and Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, is one of the longest-running case studies. The partnership focused on collecting terrestrial and marine biodiversity from Queensland, Tasmania, China, India, and Papua New Guinea between 1993 and 2007. Griffith University reaped significant benefits, and it is now one of the world's leading natural product discovery units.

The issue of access and benefit sharing is expected to take center stage at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference. How do you anticipate the talks progressing?

The UN Biodiversity Conference is critical for discussions on Nagoya Protocol access and benefit sharing, specifically on digital sequencing information. Delegates are expected to make conference recommendations on how to deal with digital sequence information on genetic resources in the context of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

Countries will also talk about the role, rights, and interests of indigenous and local communities, the research community, the private sector, and civil society organizations when it comes to digital sequencing.

What do you think should happen during those talks?

Discussions about the definition of digital sequencing information must not be limited to a single topic. Benefit-sharing may be limited if a narrow definition is adopted at the international level and becomes part of international environmental law.

It is also critical that countries respond to requests from providers of genetic resources and traditional knowledge.

Countries must follow well-defined access and benefit-sharing mechanisms. This includes the need for science-based access and benefit-sharing measures, such as monetary and non-monetary rewards for genetic resource use.

Delegates would also be well served to create a clearly defined global benefit-sharing mechanism, as well as a global mutual benefit fund, to handle transboundary access and benefit-sharing measures.