TWN Info Service on Intellectual Property Issues (Sept10/01)
24 September 2010
Third World Network

United Nations: Biodiversity Treaty Implementation at Stake

New York, 23 Sep (Chee Yoke Ling) -- Hopes have been dashed that the annual gathering of the world's leaders at the United Nations General Assembly would be presented with a new impetus to implement the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Efforts to complete a new treaty by 21 September that is aimed at preventing biopiracy and that was to be adopted in October, have reached another impasse.

Negotiators from more than 100 countries that are Party to the CBD embarked on a marathon in Montreal from 18 to 21 September in a race to finalise the text of a protocol to ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the utilization of genetic resources.

After more than five years of difficult negotiations with strong resistance from the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and agribusiness sectors, some developed countries (especially Canada and the European Union) finally maintained their stance to not have a comprehensive treaty with an effective compliance system.

There are 193 Parties to the CBD with the notable exception of the United States. However, the US Administration and US industry are present in the negotiation sessions and active in promoting their views, including at the country level in several developing and developed countries before each session.

An Inter-regional Negotiating Group (ING) was set up by the CBD's Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Access and Benefit-Sharing in July to negotiate the protocol text.

The ING concluded its second meeting at lunchtime on 21 September, with remaining deep divisions over key parts of the draft protocol text and no clear indication as to whether it will meet again before the Working Group formally reconvenes on 16 October in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. The 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD (COP10) will then meet on 18 to 30 October to make major decisions on the further implementation of the CBD.

The proposal by Co-Chair Tim Hodges of Canada to have another three-day session on 13-15 October, even with a clear commitment of support from Japan that will host COP10, was met with a refusal by the EU representative. Other developed countries such as Canada, Switzerland and Australia did not make any statement at all on this suggestion.

Finding no support for such a reconvening of the ING, Hodges then adjourned the meeting, telling ING participants "see you on the 16th" and hurriedly left, as the other Co-Chair, Fernando Casas of Colombia, was already on his way to the airport to proceed to the ongoing UN General Assembly meeting in New York where both of them are to brief ministers on the state of play of the protocol negotiations.

The shadow of the failed Montreal talks was cast over the High-Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly commemorating the International Year of Biodiversity, on 22 September morning at the UN headquarters in New York.

Heads of state and government, ministers and senior officials attended a three-day summit on the Millennium Development Goals on 20-22 September and among the events was a panel discussion on "The way forward in achieving the three objectives of the CBD, and the internationally agreed goals and targets".

With COP10 just a few weeks ahead, most of the statements stressed the need for a successful outcome at that crucial meeting.

(The goal "to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth" set almost 10 years ago has failed to materialize. Effective implementation of the CBD has thus become a central challenge.)

Biodiversity-rich countries made it clear that an ABS (access and benefit-sharing) protocol is part of an "indivisible package" of the international biodiversity regime of the CBD. While there were some positive political signals from some developed countries' ministers, there was also silence from others.

Brazil's Minister of the Environment, Izabella Teixeira, made a statement on behalf of the Group of Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries, saying that the fundamental issue for the International Year of Biodiversity is that "we have not met the 2010 biodiversity target".

(The Group comprises Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, South Africa and Venezuela. These countries collectively hold almost 80% of the world's biodiversity.)

She stressed that for the Group, the CBD COP10 meeting (in October) is about "three important elements that constitute an indivisible package of the international biodiversity regime: the Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing, the Strategic Plan for the post-2010 period and the New Strategy for Resource Mobilization".

"We recognize the primacy of the CBD in setting the global biodiversity agenda. A balanced and enhanced implementation of the three objectives of the Convention - conservation of biodiversity, its sustainable use and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from such use - is a sine qua non condition for the reversal of the loss of biodiversity," Texeira emphasized.

She added that decisions on these three elements will pave the way forward and, by re-shaping the future of the CBD, will define the future of biodiversity itself, just when States do not seem committed enough, and climate change can bring about a whole new level of imbalance to ecosystems.

She pointed out that the success of any post-2010 international arrangement rests on implementing international norms and effective tools that: (i) recognize the value of biological resources and associated traditional knowledge, and the rights of indigenous and local communities over such knowledge; (ii) ensure fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of such resources and associated traditional knowledge through financial and non-financial mechanisms; and (iii) harmonise levels of ambition of targets for biodiversity and for financial cooperation between developed and developing countries.

(In the Montreal negotiations, Brazil, on behalf of the Group, also warned that failure to reach agreement on the ABS protocol would undermine the whole CBD.)

Argentina's Secretary for the Environment and Sustainable Development, Dr. Homero Maximo Bibiloni, said that of the three CBD objectives, progress on the access and equitable benefit-sharing objective "has been clearly insufficient". He said that Argentina firmly promotes the adoption of a Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing in Nagoya, in conformity with the mandate of the CBD (COP).

He said that the design and implementation of biodiversity conservation measures should not generate protectionist barriers that may result in additional burdens to developing countries.

Bibiloni called for the creation of an international cooperation scheme that fully respects the principle of common responsibilities of States in environmental matters, but differentiated depending on the relative capacities of States.

Janez Potocnik, European Commissioner for the Environment, made the statement on behalf of the EU, saying that in addition to the strategic plan, "it will also be essential that we conclude negotiations on the Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing. Now is the time to deliver".

He added that "this meeting should send to Nagoya a message of hope and determination".

Joke Schauvliege, Belgium's Minister for the Environment, Nature and Culture and Chair of the EU's Environment Council, said that "we are all committed to successful negotiations in Nagoya (CBD COP10)" and that "a successful outcome in Nagoya will also depend on the results of the negotiations on the international ABS regime". He called upon CBD Parties "to demonstrate conviction to come to an agreement".

He also joined other speakers to reiterate that biodiversity plays a critical role in overall sustainable development and poverty eradication. He said that though the EU and global biodiversity 2010 target have not been met, still, it remains essential to set a strong and ambitious goal (in the new strategic plan) to generate actions.

Denmark's Minister for the Environment, Karen Elleman, stressed that because the global 2010 target has not been achieved, "time has come for us to act" and at COP10, "we must stand up to our responsibilities as leaders ... and we must deliver the deal that will set the world back on track".

She shared her personal view, emphasizing that "a legally binding Protocol on access and benefit sharing must be part of the outcome from COP10".

"A clear, fair and effective ABS protocol is a very key feature in our collective efforts to address the biodiversity challenge. We need an ABS protocol to motivate conservation and sustainable use of the genetic resources. And to provide for fair and equitable benefit sharing," she said.

She also said that "we need the protocol to enhance legal certainty and transparency for both providers and users" of genetic resources and that it will benefit all stakeholders involved.

She equally stressed the importance of a Strategic Plan setting out targets for 2020 that are "clear, concrete, measurable and communicable".

In marked contrast, Canada's Minister of the Environment, Jim Prentice, made a very short statement with no mention of the ABS protocol. In addition to listing Canada's domestic conservation achievements, he merely said that, "the upcoming meeting of the (CBD) provides an ideal opportunity to advance our global commitment to conservation and the sustainable use of biodiversity".

Canada is the most visible obstacle in the ABS protocol negotiations.

On Thursday morning (23 September), the ABS Working Group co-chairs, Tim Hodges of Canada and Fernando Casas of Colombia, will brief a large group of ministers on the state of the protocol negotiations. +