Convention on Biological Diversity, Access and Benefit Sharing: A Glance

Abstract

The advent of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) made a paradigm shift in the management of biodiversity. The common property (global public good) nature of biodiversity or genetic/biological resources and associated traditional knowledge has been transformed into a sovereign right of the State, where Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) attain the universal acceptance. This compelled the nations, including India, to introduce the legal, administrative and institutional mechanisms for operationalizing the ABS as an innovative financial and incentive mechanism for biodiversity conservation and its sustainable use with the support of the local communities, who are the custodian of the resources. Even if, ABS has enormous scope in safeguarding the biodiversity from its current crisis, its implementation imposes huge challenges which should be taken into account with proactive steps. This chapter addresses the above issues with an emphasis on: (a) the growth of biotechnology, bio-prospecting and bio-piracy, (b) emergence of CBD and the ABS philosophy in the context of benefit sharing and equity principles, (c) role of Nagoya Protocol in the ease of implementation of the ABS mechanism, (d) Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and the emerging ABS issues including the tracking and monitoring of biological resources based patenting, (e) financing for biodiversity and the role of ABS as an innovative financial option, (f) valuation of biological/genetic resources for determining the benefit sharing norms/amount, (g) environmental laws vs. biodiversity laws, and (h) as a pioneering country in implementing the ABS, India’s experiences, challenges and the way forward.