Rafael Pacchiano Alamán, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of Mexico, as the incoming president of the 13th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 13) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), in a joint letter with Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, CBD Executive Secretary, has urged his global counterparts to ratify the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilisation to the Convention on Biological Diversity as soon as possible.
Reiterating that the entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol at COP 12 was a significant achievement for the international community, Minister Pacchiano and Dr. Dias highlighted their common goal of reaching 100 ratifications before the CBD meetings being held later this year in Cancun, Mexico. They said that, by ratifying or acceding to the Nagoya Protocol, Parties will contribute to maintaining the diversity of genetic resources and their associated traditional knowledge for improving livelihoods and for the development of new products and services.
Nigeria is yet to ratify the international treaty.
The letter (https://www.cbd.int/doc/agreements/agmt-mexico-2016-04-01-en.pdf) highlights the contribution of access and benefit-sharing (ABS) to the global agenda on sustainable development and in particular the relevance of ABS in light of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015.
The Nagoya Protocol entered into force on 12 October 2014 and has now been ratified by 73 countries. It was gathered that ratifying the Nagoya Protocol prior to the Second meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing will also enable countries to participate in decision-making at this meeting and to further advance the global implementation of this landmark treaty.
The Protocol was adopted at the 10th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP10) in 2010, in Nagoya, Japan, and entered into force on four years later. The Protocol significantly advances the objective of the Convention on the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge by providing greater legal certainty and transparency for both providers and users of genetic resources.
By promoting the use of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, and by strengthening the opportunities for fair and equitable sharing of benefits from their use, the Protocol will create incentives to conserve biodiversity, sustainably use its components, and further enhance the contribution of biodiversity to sustainable development and human well-being.
