Introduction

1In this fourth and final section, entitled Spillover and Tensions, contributors consider the latest developments concerning the Nagoya Protocol and the current state of negotiations over the Convention on Biological Diversity, situating them within the eternal chess match of geopolitical negotiations. While implementation of the Protocol has given rise to questions which clearly transcend the issue of biodiversity, perhaps to a greater extent than any other regulatory text, it also provides an opportunity to reassess the handling of ex situ collections, the role of museums and the nature of scientific research partnerships.

2Anne Nivart and Claire Chastanier consider the possibility that the access and benefit-sharing model promoted by the Nagoya Protocol could be transposed to the management of cultural property, as part of an innovative response to demands for cultural restitution (see Chap. 15). Fifty years on from the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, France’s Sarr-Savoy report caused waves internationally with its recommendations concerning the restitution of African cultural heritage. At the same time, the debate sparked by the new definition of museums proposed by the International Council of Museums (ICOM) is indicative of a broader challenge to the Western museum model and its universalist stance. These contemporary debates in the fields of biodiversity and culture overlap when it comes to discussing the future of ex situ collections of natural and cultural assets. They are also informed by background tensions, in a context of diplomatic manoeuvring and nationalist posturing not unlike the processes underlying accusations of biopiracy.

3Catherine Aubertin and Jean-Louis Pham consider the latest negotiations in relation to the Convention on Biological Diversity, and one subject in particular which has been the source of much conflict: the possibility of including digital sequence information (DSI) within the scope of the Convention (see chap. 16). Access to this data, predominantly held in international gene banks, is not covered by the ABS mechanism, which was initially designed to regulate access to biodiversity in situ but not in silico. Along with the hot topics of synthetic biology and gene editing, covered by the Cartagena Protocol, CBD negotiations are thus tackling weighty subjects such as value grabbing and the appropriation and manipulation of the living world, which continue to slip between the cracks of legal and democratic oversight. One of the reasons that representatives of indigenous peoples have been so keen to engage with the Convention on Biological Diversity is that it provides a platform for them to raise the alarm over the risks to biodiversity and culture posed by the transformations reshaping our world, not least the triumph of market principles. In this context, the authors consider potential solutions for rethinking the access and benefit-sharing mechanism for genetic resources.