Convention on Biological Diversity

About: Convention on Biological Diversity is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2232 publications have been published within this topic receiving 65599 citations. The topic is also known as: CBD & United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

Justice, Equity and Benefit-Sharing Under the Nagoya Protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity

Abstract: This article attempts to bridge the multi-disciplinary debate on environmental justice and the traditional international legal debate on equity with a view to analysing the legal concept of fair and equitable benefit-sharing in international law. To that end, the article uses the Nagoya Protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity as a testing ground for: i) unpacking different notions of justice that may be pursued through fair and equitable benefit-sharing from access to genetic resources and the use of associated traditional knowledge, and ii) relating different notions of justice to the different functions that equity plays in international law. The aim is to test the potential wider application, in other areas of international law that refer to benefit-sharing, of linking a pluralist notion of environmental justice to different functions of equity. It is argued that this helps systematically unveil implicit legal design choices in relation to the pursuit of justice through international law-making, and interpret international legal instruments in ways that can contribute to negotiate concrete understandings of justice on a case-by-case basis.

Indigenous Peoples and the Institutionalization of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Greenland

Abstract: According to the neoinstitutional theory of the world polity, peripheral societies switch to the complete institutional apparatus of modern social organization. The system of the United Nations leads to the expansion of legal “global models,” for instance global models of how to perceive nature and indigeneity. As rational actors, peripheral societies follow global models, which appear as given “scripts,” to gain recognition. As a local peripheral society, Greenland develops in a manner influenced by global formal structures. Hence, the impact of the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) has been immense: First, environmental management and environmental protection institutions and organizations have been established in line with the global model of nature. Second, the Greenlandic Inuit have been recognized as an indigenous people possessing traditional ecological knowledge (global model of indigeneity). Hence, the CBD adopted the image of the “noble eco-savage” living in harmony with nature, an image that the Greenlandic Inuit later reproduced themselves. However, the institutionalization of the CBD is not without contradictions.

Why is the evidence base for effectiveness of win-win interventions to benefit humans and biodiversity so poor?

Abstract: Within global efforts to improve human wellbeing and conserve biodiversity there is increasing interest in resolving conflicts between these goals and achieving win–win outcomes. In fact, these win–win outcomes are viewed as fundamental to achieving sustainability goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Consequently a variety of actors, intergovernmental, governmental, non-governmental and private are funding and/or implementing interventions (projects) in the field with the twin objectives of improving human wellbeing and conserving biodiversity. A range of interventions has been implemented, such as community-based management of natural resources, payment for ecosystem services and alternative livelihoods. Some projects have now been running for decades whilst others are very recent. All are aimed at influencing human behaviour and enabling community change that both improves human health, income, social capital etc and impacts positively on biodiversity either directly (e.g. through creating incentive to conserve to provide income) or indirectly (e.g. through decreasing pressure on natural resources). Although these actors can generally point to one or two examples where their interventions appear to work, there is an alarming lack of systematic evaluation and synthesis of evidence for their effectiveness. Given the level of investment and the importance of achieving these goals it is interesting to ask why the accumulation of rigorous evidence is so poor. The funding landscape is complex but some of the typi cal funders of these projects are: 1. Intergovernmental agencies of the World Bank and United Nations which are in turn funded by National Governments (tax payers). Often their funding is matched by private sources. 2. International non-governmental organisations such as conservation or international development notfor-profit organisations (NGOs). Their funding in turn comes from members and donors but also from 1 to 3. 3. Private donors (philanthropists) who may fund directly or through 1 and 2 above 4. National Government agencies using tax payers money.

Business and Biodiversity: A Guide for the Private Sector

Abstract: The Convention on biological diversity was drafted with in mind the conservation of the world's natural resources, their sustainable use and the equal sharing of their benefits. Among the primary utilisers of these natural resources is industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the food industry and many more. This short guide addresses the business community by describing which sections of the Convention appeal directly to the private sector and how the private sector can involve itself to ensure that the natural resources on which it too depends for its livelihood will be available for generations to come.