The Nagoya Protocol, reconciling ambition with effective action
p. 22-23
Résumé
Putting an end to the unremunerated exploitation of the biological resources and know-how of the global South is a major priority which international agreements have thus far struggled to put into practice
Texte intégral

Scientists collecting indigenous plant species in the forest, Peru.
© ird-unap / C. Amasifuen
1Awareness of this issue began to grow in the 1980s, with concerns raised by threats to biodiversity, the new economic perspectives opened up by advances in biotechnologies, the first patents registered for living things and the growing political mobilisation of indigenous peoples. This groundswell of pressure finally led to the adoption of a Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992, establishing the first ever regulatory framework governing access to biological resources, heretofore considered as an element of humanity’s shared heritage. From now on, these resources were to be subject to the sovereignty of national governments, who would take responsibility for controlling access. When resources are used, there must be “fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilisation” between the suppliers and the users. This sharing may involve a monetary transaction, in the form of commercial profits, or it may take non-monetary forms such as sharing of knowledge, technology transfer or capacity building.
2Nevertheless, this virtuous principle has been hard to implement in practice. After twenty years of negotiation, a further extension of the CBD was approved in 2014. Known as the Nagoya Protocol, it offers a more precise definition of the ABS principle (Access to genetic resources and Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization) and makes this commitment legally binding on signatories. Henceforth, whenever genetic resources and their associated traditional expertise are utilised, or even when a request is made to access such resources, a contract must be drawn up between the supplier and the user of the resource or knowledge, in accordance with the regulations in place in the country of origin. This adds up to a serious legal and administrative headache, since each government has its own approach to implementing the Nagoya Protocol.

Collecting ferns, part of the traditional Madagascan pharmacopeia.
© ird / S. Carrière
••• The complexity of the regulations, and the disconnect from actual research practices, are undermining the effectiveness of this crucially important convention •••
3While researchers are fully on board with the ethical principle of ABS, and share the non-monetary benefits of their work as a matter of course, the complexity of the procedures involved can be off-putting. This system seems particularly ill-suited to the urgency of the current situation, and the ease with which biological materials and information are now shared within the globalised research community. A substantial amount of support and awareness-raising work is thus required in advance, led by research institutions such as IRD for whom ABS is a key component of ethical and responsible partnership policy.
4Other stakeholders would like to see the current system made more efficient. In purely financial terms, the total benefits received by the governments or indigenous peoples who hold these resources and knowledge have proved to be paltry in comparison with initial estimates. The inclusion of genome sequencing data in the category of resources subject to ABS regulations is up for discussion at the upcoming COP summit, and seems likely to stoke existing tensions.
5We can only hope that these discussions also provide an opportunity to reflect on new ways of making ABS an instrument which genuinely contributes to the preservation of biodiversity.
Partners
Biodiversity Research Foundation, Paris, France
National Museum of Natural History, Paris, France
Centre for International Cooperation on Agronomic Research for Development, Paris, France

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