Global Action on Biodiversity May Hinge on Genetic Data Sharing Agreement

This month, parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) are meeting in Montreal with the aim of concluding negotiations on an important new action plan for global biodiversity conservation, known as the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). In these negotiations, genetic data from plants, animals, fungi and microorganisms, known as digital sequence information (DSI) in policy circles, has emerged as a central source of tension. A number of parties are demanding that benefits arising from the use of these genetic data be better shared with the countries where the genetic material was collected. The Nagoya Protocol, a component of the CBD, recognized the right of countries to share in the benefits derived from their nation’s genetic resources, and established a framework by which countries can regulate and track the use of physical “genetic resources” (i.e., biological samples, strains, plant lines, etc., containing genetic material). This framework, however, is complex and, in the opinion of many, has proven inefficient at driving meaningful benefit sharing.[1] Researchers and other stakeholders have raised serious concerns about applying such a framework to DSI.[2–3] Some of the proposals on the table could spell an end to the culture of open sequence sharing that has defined non-human genetics research for decades, and which is widely agreed to have massive positive effects on research progress and economic value creation. A poorly developed solution could therefore have a negative impact on biodiversity research that is crucial to the aims of the