Biodiversity Network : Nagoya Protocol

India is hosting the eleventh Conference of the Parties (CoP-11) to the Convention of Bodiversity in Hyderabad on 1-19 October, 2012, at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre, Hyderabad.

There will be three components of CoP-11:

(i) the sixth Conference of the Parties serving as Meeting of the Parties (CoP/MoP-6) to the CBD’s Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to be held from 1-5 October 2012;

(ii) the CoP-11 to the CBD from 8-19 October 2012;

(iii) the High Level Segment of CoP-11 from 16-19 October 2012.

CoP-11 is expected to be the largest such conference to be held in India with participation of thousands of delegates from all countries of the world, including Ministers/Vice-Ministers, Ambassadors, senior Government officials, heads and senior officers of UN and multilateral agencies, private sector, academia, civil society organizations etc.

India is a recognised megadiverse country rich in biodiversity and associated traditional knowledge.

With just 2.4% of the land area, India accounts for nearly 7% of the recorded species even while supporting almost 18% of human population as well as cattle population. The biotic pressure on Indian biodiversity is therefore immense.

For India, conservation of its biodiversity is crucial not only because it provides several goods and services necessary for human survival, but also because it is directly linked with providing livelihoods to and improving socio-economic conditions of millions of our local people, thereby contributing to sustainable development and poverty alleviation.

India is a Party to the CBD; the the three objectives of the Convention are: conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.

CBD is the first comprehensive global agreement addressing all aspects relating to biodiversity. It is a framework agreement that provides for flexible country-driven approach to its implementation. The Convention has near universal membership with 193 Parties.

The USA is the only major country which is not a Party to the CBD.

Two Protocols have so far been adopted under the aegis of CBD: the CartagenaProtocol on Biosafety (CPB) adopted in 2000, and the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing adopted in 2010.

Despite intense biotic pressure, India has been able to harbour 7-8% of the world’s biodiversity. While most developing countries have lost forest cover, India has added around 3 million hectares of forests and tree cover in the last three decades.

In India, with a strong legal and policy framework on biodiversity in place, some recent positive initiatives relevant to biodiversity taken up include: Forests Rights Act, MG NREGA.

Globally, India is recognized as a pioneer and trendsetter on biodiversity issues, and is a major player.

On biodiversity, India speaks from a position of strength. Advancing biodiversity agenda contributes to equity as well as development agenda. This cannot the said of any other environmental issue under discussion in international fora.

Hosting of CoP-11 in India is a culmination of the biodiversity agenda being pursued by India during last few years. The event provides India with an opportunity to consolidate, scale-up and showcase our initiatives and strengths on biodiversity.

India with a strong institutional, legal and policy framework, has the potential and capability to emerge as the world leader in conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and also to set the global agenda on biodiversity in the context of sustainable livelihoods during the UN Decade on Biodiversity 2011-2020.

Hosting of CoP-11 would also bring in focus the need for balancing economic development, demographic pressures and environmental conservation in developing countries like India, and the need to spread awareness for better use and management of biological resources among different stakeholders.

CoP-11 would provide a unique platform to display, promote, interact, learn and network from each other experiences and knowledge relating to biodiversity.

At the opening of CoP-11, the Presidency of CoP will be handed over by Japan (as the host of CoP-10) to the Indian Minister for Environment and Forests. India will be the President of CoP-11 for a two year period ending at the opening of the next CoP.

CoP-10 held in Nagoya in October 2010 had adopted the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 alongwith twenty Aichi biodiversity targets. These inter alia included:

By 2020, atleast 17% of terrestrial and inland water (from the present 13%), and 10% of coastal and marine areas (from the present 1.6%) are conserved;
By 2020, the rate of loss of all natural habitats, including forests, is atleast halved;
By 2020 areas under agriculture, aquaculture and forestry are managed sustainably.

While adopting the ambitious Strategic Plan, CoP-10 could not agree on the targets for funding as the means to implement Strategic Plan and achieve Aichi targets.

CoP-11 is expected to come out with a road map for operationalisation of the Strategic Plan and Aichi targets; facilitation of early entry into force of Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing; and determine targets for mobilizing resources for implementing the Strategic Plan.

On resource mobilization, presently, the international flows for biodiversity directly and indirectly are approximately USD 6 billion, which is about 4.7% of the global ODA of USD 127 billion. To enable CoP-11 to agree on targets for resource mobilization for implementation of the Strategic Plan, an assessment of the requirement of funding to meet the Aichi targets at the global level is necessary. Towards this, a number of activities have been undertaken in the intersessional period.

India with Sweden, Ecuador and others co-sponsored a Dialogue seminar on finance in Quito in March 2012, the outcomes of which resulted in an improved understanding between the developed and developing countries.

Thereafter, India alongwith UK have sponsored a High Level Panel for assessing the resources required globally to implement the Strategic Plan. An interim report of this Panel will be presented to CoP-11.

The Panel has estimated that the costs for implementing the Aichi targets is between USD 150 billion to 430 billion annually, though coordinated action on the targets is expected to substantially reduce the total estimate.

Parallely, a team of five experts commissioned by the CBD Secretariat have undertaken an assessment of the amount of funds that are necessary to assist developing countries in achieving Aichi targets, over the period 2014-2018.

As per this assessment, the total funding needs for developing countries for the period 2014-2018 works out to be between USD 74 billion and 191 billion.

The outcome of these intersessional activities will be considered by CoP-11, for facilitating a decision on some interim commitments on resource mobilization, alongwith a road map that would include review by CoP-12 when more information is expected to become available.

India has also hosted and supported a number of workshops and meetings for capacity building on Protected Areas, national biodiversity strategies and biosafety. These efforts made by India have been well appreciated by the global community.

The CoP-MoP-6 will discuss and adopt further decisions for safe transfer, handling and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology. The discussions will inter alia focus on risk assessment and management of LMOs, socio-economic considerations, capacity building, information sharing, cooperation among countries, and resource mobilization to assist developing countries in meeting their global commitments towards safe use of LMOs.

The outcomes of CoP-MoP-6 and CoP-11 are in the form of decisions agreed to by consensus among all Parties to the CBD, which are binding on the Parties.

The High Level Segment will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in the afternoon of 16 October 2012. Several Ministers, Vice-Ministers and Ambassadors are likely to attend the High level Segment. There will be four Panel discussions on the following topics during the High Level Segment:

Panel I: Implementation of the Strategic Plan on Biodiversity 2011-2020

Panel II: Biodiversity for Livelihoods and Poverty Reduction

Panel III: Coastal and Marine Biodiversity

Panel IV: Implementation of Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit Sharing.

The outcome of High Level Segment will be in the form of Chair’s summary statement by the Minister for Environment and Forests.

The Second Meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ICNP-2) is being held in New Delhi from 2-6 July, 2012. The Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) is an international treaty which was adopted under the auspices of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Nagoya, Japan on 29th October, 2010, after six years of intense negotiations.

The CBD, one of the two agreements adopted during the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, is the first comprehensive global agreement which addresses all aspects relating to biodiversity. The Convention, while reaffirming sovereign rights of nations over their biological resources, establishes three main goals: (i) conservation of biological diversity, (ii) sustainable use of its components, and (iii) fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of genetic resources.

A framework for implementing the third objective of the CBD, which is generally known as access and benefit sharing (ABS) is provided for in the Convention. All living organisms such as plants, animals and microbes, carry genetic material that has potential uses for developing a wide range of products and services for human benefits, such as in development of medicines, drugs, cosmetics, enzymes, agricultural and horticultural products, environmental techniques etc. ABS refers to the way in which genetic resources may be accessed, and the way in which benefits that result from their use are shared between the people or countries using the resources (users) and the people or countries that provide them (providers).

Prior to the CBD, biological resources were considered as common heritage of mankind. The CBD, while reaffirming sovereign rights of States over their natural resources, stipulates that the authority to determine access to genetic resources rests with the national Governments and is subject to national legislation. Further, access where granted, has to be on mutually agreed terms (MAT) and subject to prior informed consent (PIC) of the Party providing such resources.

Each Party is also required to take measures to ensure fair and equitable sharing of benefits on MAT arising from the commercial and other utilisation of genetic resources with the Party providing such resources. The CBD recognises the importance of traditional knowledge associated with biological diversity, and stipulates that Parties (subject to their national legislation) respect, preserve and maintain this traditional knowledge, and promote their wider application with the approval and involvement of holders of their knowledge and encourage equitable sharing of benefit arising from use of such knowledge.

India, as a megadiverse country rich in biodiversity and associated traditional knowledge, and with a rapidly advancing biotechnology industry, has contributed effectively in ABS negotiations.

The objective of the Nagoya Protocol, namely, the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources, is also one of the three objectives of the CBD. The Nagoya Protocol on ABS establishes a clear framework on how researchers and companies can obtain access to genetic resources and to traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, and how benefits arising from the use of such material or knowledge will be shared.

The Nagoya Protocol sets out clear obligation for Parties to provide that users of genetic resources within their jurisdiction respect the domestic regulatory framework of Parties from where the resource has been accessed.

The first meeting of ICNP was held in June, 2011, in which India had been elected as one of the two Bureau members to represent Asia Pacific region. This is helping India to steer the discussions under ICNP. The second meeting of ICNP is being hosted by India in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi from 2-6 July, 2012.

The Nagoya Protocol has been signed by 92 countries, and as on date ratified by five countries. India signed the Protocol on 11th May, 2011, and is in the process of completing interministerial consultations necessary for ratifying the Protocol. The Protocol will enter into force 90 days after its 50th ratification. The first meeting of the governing body of the Protocol (CoP-MoP) will be held concurrently with the next meeting of governing body of the CBD (CoP).

The ICNP-2 will discuss issues such as capacity building of developing countries for implementation of the Protocol, awareness raising, modalities of ABS clearing house, procedures and mechanism to promote compliance with the Protocol, agenda for the first CoP-MoP, rules of procedure for CoP-MoP, and global multilateral benefit sharing mechanism.

About 600 delegates from all countries of the world representing Governments, academia, UN bodies, civil society organizations, and indigenous and local communities are expected to attend the New Delhi meeting which will be inaugurated by India's Minister of Environment & Forests, Jayanthi Natarajan, on 2nd July, in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

The recommendations of the ICNP meetings will be considered by the CoP-11 to the CBD being hosted by India in Hyderabad in October 2012.