During nearly two decades Valérie led the work programme on access and benefit-sharing (ABS) at the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). She was at the heart of the negotiations of the Nagoya Protocol and lead efforts towards its ratification and entry into force.
Joining the UEBT team in 2019 was an opportunity to make a difference at the ground level and to support implementation. I am now working with companies that are leaders in sustainability, learning from them, finding practical solutions to their challenges and assisting them in their continued efforts towards the implementation of ethical sourcing practices, including respect for ABS principles and legal requirements
What is the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT)?
The Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT) is a non-profit association that promotes sourcing with respect for people and biodiversity. It works mainly with companies operating in sectors such as cosmetics, food, natural pharmaceuticals, flavours & fragrances, and herbs and spices.
Through its standard, known as the Ethical BioTrade standard, it sets good practices for how companies and their suppliers source ingredients from biodiversity, with a focus on promoting positive impact in supply chains of specialty ingredients – that is, to promote respect for people and biodiversity in the way companies harvest or collect flowers, roots, leaves, fruits, seeds, resins, and nuts.
What is the relationship between BioTrade and access and benefit-sharing (ABS)?
I would like to answer your question by explaining how ABS issues arise in the context of the Ethical BioTrade standard.
As already mentioned, Ethical BioTrade is guided by a set of internationally recognized, voluntary good practices for sourcing of ingredients from biodiversity, outlined in the UEBT standard. It includes compliance with legal requirements, including on ABS, as well as additional good practices on social, environmental and economic aspects of working with biodiversity. That means, compliance with ABS is an element of Ethical BioTrade.
ABS is not relevant to all companies working with UEBT. It is relevant to companies who utilize genetic resources, that is companies that carry out research and development on genetic resources to identify active ingredients which can then be used in the development and commercialisation of a variety of products.
One important distinction between ABS and Ethical BioTrade is that while ABS requirements established through national laws and regulations are mandatory and must be respected by any user interested in accessing genetic resources in a country, Ethical BioTrade practices are voluntary. Companies involved in UEBT voluntarily commit to ethical sourcing through continuous improvement of their policies and practices.
How does UEBT contribute to the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol?
UEBT contributes to the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol in a number of ways:
Through training, it contributes to awareness-raising of the ABS principles and obligations contained in the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol and their national implementation.
UEBT has also developed a number of tools, such as factsheets, e-training modules and an online tool to help companies determine how ABS applies to their activities and the steps to take to be in compliance with national ABS requirements
It provides advisory services to support companies in developing and implementing ABS due diligence systems, in carrying out ABS assessments for specific ingredients, and in ABS negotiations and permitting processes.
Over the years, UEBT has also been involved in a number of projects and collaborations with companies, governments, international organisations and other partners to find practical solutions to ABS implementation and support positive impact on the ground.
What is the perception of companies with respect to ABS and the Nagoya Protocol?
The principles of ABS are very much in line with growing company commitments towards corporate social and environmental responsibility. The companies we work with at UEBT are actively involved in the development and implementation of sustainable business practices and are supportive of ABS principles and the Nagoya Protocol.
ABS has involved a shift in mindset and practices. While companies support the principles of ABS, they sometimes struggle in determining how it applies to their activities. Also, it is not always clear what strategies, policies and actions are needed at the corporate level and in their relationship with suppliers to ensure that ABS requirements can be met.
What do you see as the main challenges related to the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol?
The main challenges relate to the fact that governments and the business community do not always speak the same language and may not have the same expectations, although ABS implementation should be mutually beneficial.
Despite considerable progress made and ongoing efforts by governments in the development of national ABS measures, a number of challenges remain for the business community which relies on legal certainty and on the predictability, clarity and transparency of ABS requirements. These challenges relate, for example, to:
- the large diversity of national approaches to ABS implementation;
- the complexity of some national ABS frameworks which can be difficult to navigate for potential users of genetic resources;
- the difficulty of finding information on ABS requirements in some countries, either because ABS requirements are not available in the ABS Clearing-House or because countries are still in the process of establishing their national laws and/or regulations;
- the time involved in securing prior informed consent, negotiating mutually agreed terms and obtaining a permit, which is not compatible with the constraints of the business community; and,
- the scope of application of ABS requirements to activities carried out by companies is not always clear, in part due to the fact that a number of governments have expanded the scope of application of ABS requirements beyond the utilization of genetic resources, as defined in the Nagoya Protocol.
What can be done to enhance the engagement of the business community towards achieving the objective of the Nagoya Protocol?
Continued dialogue and communication between governments, indigenous peoples and local communities, and the business community are essential to continue building a climate of trust and mutual understanding and to finding practical/workable solutions to implementation that take into account the expectations of providers as well as the realities of users.
A number of practical steps can be taken by governments to help engage the business community and limit transaction costs. For example:
- When developing national ABS measures, reaching out to companies already operating in their country to understand their needs and expectations;
- Establishing simple, clear and transparent ABS mechanisms and procedures that can be carried out in a timely manner;
- Ensuring that up-to-date information is available on the ABS Clearing House on national ABS procedures and being responsive to queries from potential users;
- Establishing interim ABS procedures or mechanisms in countries that are working on the development of their national ABS frameworks and do not yet have ABS measures in place;
- Sharing information on how benefits will be used towards conservation and sustainable use.
On this last point, as the business community is increasingly committed to sustainability and reporting on its actions towards sustainable development, information-sharing by governments on how benefits generated from ABS partnerships contribute to conservation, sustainable use, the livelihood of communities and sustainable development more broadly would certainly support their engagement.
What role do you see ABS play in the Post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework?
As we all know, the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources is one of the three objectives of the CBD. It is the equity and development dimension of the CBD. Recent case studies have demonstrated that ABS can contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals in many ways, by supporting conservation, sustainable use and the livelihood of indigenous peoples and local communities.
The Nagoya Protocol was developed to further support the implementation of the ABS provisions of the Convention related to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. ABS and further support to the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol must be a central component of a global biodiversity framework.
Over the years, ABS has often been considered as a standalone issue only to be understood by a small group of aficionados. The global biodiversity framework is an opportunity to further mainstream and integrate ABS in the Convention and to highlight the interlinkages between its three objectives, so that the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources can indeed contribute to conservation, sustainable use and to sustainable development more broadly through the implementation of a functional international ABS system.
If you could send one message to the delegates at COP-15 what would it be?
A huge task lies ahead of governments before they can reach agreement on a global biodiversity framework at COP-15 that can provide a sound basis for the urgent action needed at all levels and by all actors of society to meet the challenges ahead and reduce biodiversity loss.
On the topic of ABS, while there is a pressing need to address and find consensus on new important issues, such as the relationship between digital sequence information on genetic resources and ABS, my hope is that governments will not be distracted from their efforts to establish sound ABS frameworks for national implementation that respond to the needs of both providers and users of genetic resources.
Much progress has been made until now and much still needs to be done for an international system that is fully operational and workable. The Nagoya Protocol is still in its infancy. Successful ABS implementation will require learning by doing, building on good practices, drawing lessons from the challenges encountered by both providers and users, good will, trust and perseverance, and possibly additional guidance to facilitate further harmonization while respecting national circumstances and priorities. Time as well as coordinated technical and financial support will also be essential to ensuring further progress.