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Where access and benefit-sharing comes from: A historical overview

Sirakaya, Aysegul LU (2022) In Genetic Resources 3(6). p.74-88
Abstract
The international legal system of access and benefit-sharing of genetic resources (or ABS) under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is an ever-evolving field as its material, temporal and activity scope is still under discussion to meet the needs of the advancement of research and development activities as well as the questions of fairness and equity that evolve with them. Activities, such as research and development with digital sequence information (DSI), currently take considerable space in the negotiations and the lack of consensus between the Global North and Global South continues. This paper gets its raison d'être from this lack of consensus and aims to provide a better understanding of the debate around the fair and... (More)
The international legal system of access and benefit-sharing of genetic resources (or ABS) under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is an ever-evolving field as its material, temporal and activity scope is still under discussion to meet the needs of the advancement of research and development activities as well as the questions of fairness and equity that evolve with them. Activities, such as research and development with digital sequence information (DSI), currently take considerable space in the negotiations and the lack of consensus between the Global North and Global South continues. This paper gets its raison d'être from this lack of consensus and aims to provide a better understanding of the debate around the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources as well as states' sovereignty over their natural resources. As such, the paper provides an analysis of all relevant documents at the international level, starting from the UN Charter to the CBD final text with the hope of reminding the ongoing CBD negotiations why we have ABS in the first place and what the international community historically aimed for when regulating genetic resources at the international level. Looking back at why we had the first legally binding ABS instrument in the first place, and why we thought this instrument would achieve fairness and equity in dealing with genetic resources, will serve the interests of all Parties to the CBD and will hopefully enable them to interpret the provisions based on their overarching aim and reasoning. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
International environmental law, Public international law, Access and benefit-sharing, Internationell miljörätt, Folkrätt
in
Genetic Resources
volume
3
issue
6
pages
74 - 88
publisher
Bioversity International
external identifiers
  • scopus:85148460125
ISSN
2708-3764
DOI
10.46265/genresj.PPUF5169
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
199da478-4262-422e-b56c-bf58892ac769
date added to LUP
2023-01-24 15:01:33
date last changed
2023-05-10 11:15:03
@article{199da478-4262-422e-b56c-bf58892ac769,
  abstract     = {{The international legal system of access and benefit-sharing of genetic resources (or ABS) under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is an ever-evolving field as its material, temporal and activity scope is still under discussion to meet the needs of the advancement of research and development activities as well as the questions of fairness and equity that evolve with them. Activities,  such as research and development with digital sequence information (DSI), currently take considerable space in the negotiations and the lack of consensus between the Global North and Global South continues. This paper gets its raison d'être from this lack of consensus and aims to provide a better understanding of the debate around the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources as well as states' sovereignty over their natural resources. As such, the paper provides an analysis of all relevant documents at the international level, starting from the UN Charter to the CBD final text with the hope of reminding the ongoing CBD negotiations why we have ABS in the first place and what the international community historically aimed for when regulating genetic resources at the international level. Looking back at why we had the first legally binding ABS instrument in the first place, and why we thought this instrument would achieve fairness and equity in dealing with genetic resources, will serve the interests of all Parties to the CBD and will hopefully enable them to interpret the provisions based on their overarching aim and reasoning.}},
  author       = {{Sirakaya, Aysegul}},
  issn         = {{2708-3764}},
  keywords     = {{International environmental law; Public international law; Access and benefit-sharing; Internationell miljörätt; Folkrätt}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{74--88}},
  publisher    = {{Bioversity International}},
  series       = {{Genetic Resources}},
  title        = {{Where access and benefit-sharing comes from: A historical overview}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.46265/genresj.PPUF5169}},
  doi          = {{10.46265/genresj.PPUF5169}},
  volume       = {{3}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}