Many products have commercialized without any profits returning to the countries and communities whose biodiversity and traditional knowledge.
Beating the biopirates: A journalist’s guide to biodiversity access and benefit-sharing.
There is a multi-billion-dollar yearly trade in medicines, foodstuffs and industrial products derived from plants, animals, fungi and bacteria. However, many such products have commercialised without any profits returning to the countries and communities whose biodiversity and traditional knowledge made the innovation possible. And in some cases, biological resources have been accessed illegally.
That is why, in 2010, parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) reached a new agreement — called the Nagoya Protocol — to ensure legal accesses and guarantee that any benefits arising from the use of genetic resources are shared fairly and equitably.
But what exactly is Access and benefit-sharing?
What are countries doing to meet their CBD commitments and ensure that companies meet their legal obligations? Are benefits flowing where they should?
