The agreement signed by 193 countries at the UN meeting in Nagoya, Japan, is an important step in efforts to protect the world’s bio-diversity. The meeting was no less important than the summits on climate change but it did not receive as much attention as last year’s Copenhagen meeting. Nagoya was more success than failure, unlike Copenhagen. The issues involved in the conservation of the world’s ecosystem, genetic resources, plant and animal life and even traditional knowledge about their value are as important as climate change issues. They are correlated also. The Convention on Biological Diversity which came into force in 1993 envisaged responsibilities for all countries to reduce the loss of plant and animal species but its implementation has not been satisfactory. As in the case of climate change the demands of conservation are mixed up with the need for economic growth and poverty alleviation and that has made progress difficult.
The agreement which was arrived at last week mandates measures to protect 17 per cent of the world’s land surface and 10 per cent of the oceans by the year 2020, up from 12.5 per cent and one per cent respectively now. Twenty strategic goals were agreed upon to prevent mass extinction of species and a legally binding code to protect genetic diversity was accepted. A consensus on most issues was reached after much bargaining and almost in the last minute. Lack of financial resources constrains poor countries in their conservation efforts. Developed countries have agreed to fund the efforts to protect ecologically vulnerable areas in different parts of the world. The agreement also envisages sharing of the benefits of genetic resources. This has implications for trade and intellectual property rights and has been a contentious issue. A special fund would be set up to share profits made from products made from biological material collected even centuries ago from the developing world. Much of the dispute was over this issue as developing countries feared that they would lose revenue when western companies developed and marketed drugs and other products based on the study of genetic material in their territories. The agreement will set up a regime in which developing countries allow access to their genetic and natural resources in return for a share of the profits derived from them.
The deal has been termed historic and ambitious, coming after 18 years of discussions and negotiations. The results will depend on the will to implement it with sincerity.