A UN nature summit in Colombia yesterday agreed on the creation of a fund to share the profits of digitally sequenced genetic data taken from animals and plants with the communities they come from.
Such data, much of it from species found in poor countries, is notably used in medicines and cosmetics that can make their developers billions.
Few, if any, benefits of the data — often downloaded from free-access online databases — ever trickle down to the communities who discovered a species’ usefulness in the first place.
Photo: AFP
The issue had been a bone of contention at the 16th UN Biodiversity Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity that opened in Cali nearly two weeks ago.
The previous summit, COP15 in Montreal, had agreed on the creation of a “multilateral mechanism” for sharing the benefits of digitally sequenced genetic information (DSI), “including a global fund.”
However, in Cali, negotiators argued for nearly two weeks over basic questions such as who pays, how much, into which fund and to whom the money should go.
After a last-minute compromise, member countries of the convention agreed on the creation of a “Cali Fund” for the equitable sharing of DSI benefits.
The agreement determines that users who commercially benefit from DSI “should contribute a proportion of their profits or revenue to the global fund.”
Those whose income exceeds a certain income threshold should contribute one percent of profits or 0.1 percent of revenue, the document determined.
The nonbinding agreement lists targeted sectors including the producers of pharmaceuticals, food and health supplements, cosmetics, biotechnology, and agribusiness.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had urged delegates at the start of the talks to approve a mechanism to govern DSI use so that benefits can be shared equitably.
“Developing countries are being plundered,” he said.
“Digitized DNA from biodiversity underpins scientific discoveries and economic growth, but developing countries don’t gain fairly from these advances — despite being home to extraordinary richness,” he said.
Scheduled to close on Friday, the summit ran many hours into overtime as delegates quarreled over the minutiae of text.
Many delegates had already left the conference by the time the deal was adopted, rushing to catch planes back home.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS