After the latest round of talks, the UN negotiation group in charge of defining a mechanism to share benefits derived from the digital sequence information on genetic resources (DSI) on Friday said parties are getting closer to an agreement, which is set to include the establishment of a global fund.
The Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) DSI intergovernmental negotiating group gathered over Aug. 12-16 in Montreal, Canada, to discuss a mechanism to share benefits derived from products that leverage the use of the DNA sequences of plants, animals, and microbes.
One of the aims of the multilateral mechanism is to equitably and fairly share with developing countries some of the multi-trillion dollar revenues generated from products such as drugs, cosmetics, and agricultural biotechnology that have been developed by reading and understanding genetic resources.
Defining the functioning of the mechanism was pledged by parties at the COP15 UN biodiversity summit in Montreal in Dec. 2022, as part of the deal that also included the Global Biodiversity Framework.
The agreement will be one of the main goals of the upcoming COP16 set to take place in Cali, Colombia, over Oct. 21-Nov. 2.
During the talks, the UN working group also discussed how to share non-monetary benefits of DSI-related science, including capacity building, technology transfer, research results, and joint research partnerships.
NOT LEGALLY BINDING
According to the co-chairs of the negotiation group, the final agreement will not be legally binding, but it would prompt countries to take action in this direction – even though the wording hasn’t been defined yet.
“The document under discussion would ‘encourage’ or ‘call upon’ national governments to come up with measures that push their companies that depend on DSI to make those contributions to the fund,” co-chair Mphasto Kalemba told journalists during the Friday press conference.
“Maybe we could have these contributions made directly to the fund, or they could be done through national governments. This is something that is still under discussion.”
Kalemba also said that parties are still considering several options in terms of who precisely should share the benefits and to what extent they should contribute.
“Options include whether we will have sectors that are using DSI to contribute to the fund, or whether we focus on the products, the sales, or the revenue that is generated from the products,” Kalemba said.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to reach a conclusion at COP.”
In terms of disbursing, co-chairs said the group is working to include Indigenous Peoples and local communities among the beneficiaries.
“We’ve always had the Indigenous Peoples and local communities as part of all the processes that have been undertaken, and we also aim to include them in the future governance of the mechanism,” Kalemba said.
According to a study conducted in the lead-up to the meeting, sectors that depend most on DNA sequences – which range from pharmaceutical to cosmetics – generate at least one, perhaps several, trillion dollars annually.
Last month, the UN drafted a proposal mentioning that allocating just 0.1% of $1 trillion of those revenues would yield $1 billion for the GBF fund, established with the aim of scaling up financing for the implementation of the 2022 Kunming-Montreal agreement.
By Giada Ferraglioni – giada@carbon-pulse.com
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