What is the Convention on Biological Diversity?
At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, world leaders agreed on a comprehensive strategy for ‘sustainable global development’. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is one of the International Treaties that forms part of this strategy and has been agreed by more than 190 governments. The CBD has three main goals: (i) the conservation of biological diversity, (ii) the sustainable use of its components, and, (iii) the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits from the use of genetic resources. It covers all biological biodiversity, and not just plants. The CBD declared that nations may exercise sovereignty over genetic resources within their territory. Under the CBD and national laws that implement it, one must obtain the prior informed consent of the relevant government agency before collecting genetic resources. In some countries, the laws have not been fully implemented, making it difficult or impossible to obtain the desired governmental consent. In those countries where
