by the CBD Alliance, Women's Caucus and by IIFB

CBD Alliance

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I speak on behalf of Third World Network and Ecoropa, members of the CBD Alliance. The concerns we raise here are also shared by the 65 Civil Society Organisations who sent  a joint letter to the Executive Secretary, the working group co-chairs, and the Parties this morning.

We have several concerns about the proposed elements in the Annex of the Document WGDSI/2/2.

• First, the proposed elements do not ensure the obligation to share benefits on the users of DSI. The Multilateral Mechanism relies on measures that might be taken up by parties in future. A MLM system which does not generate the obligation to share benefits is not an ABS mechanism at all. Benefit sharing should not be confused with charity.
• Second, the proposed elements explicitly ask Parties to refrain from setting up national ABS measures for the use of DSI from public databases - at least when  DSI has been deposited in a public database. But we are concerned about the lack of databases that would respect the Parties’ rights under the Convention, and that would only upload DSI in accordance with the Parties’ national laws and with the prior informed consent of the genetic material provider.
• Third, the proposed elements are inconsistent with the unanimously adopted UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science and would promote inequitable extraction of DSI, in particular from developing countries that lack national capacities, to unaccountable institutions and non-Parties.

The following five components therefore need to included in the any decision for development of the MLM:

• First, recognize the lack of accountable public databases consistent with UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, as a major challenge in securing fair and equitable benefit sharing obligations from the use of DSI;
• Second, call upon Parties sponsoring or hosting sequence databases to ensure that these databases do not frustrate the rights of the Parties recognized under the Convention and the operationalization of the multilateral mechanism.
• Third, establish a safe, secure, and  accountable database for providing access to DSI from legitimate sources to all without discrimination, provided that the users undertake obligations to share both monetary and non-monetary benefits, including products and technologies arising from the use of DSI - fairly and equitably.
• Fourth, the same database could also provide additional facilities for those developing countries that lack national capacities, to store and share DSI that would fall under their national ABS laws and thereby allow Parties to make meaningful choices on how, when and why to share DSI.
• Finally, set up a governing body inclusive of all Parties to the Multilateral Mechanism to look into the effective implementation of the decision which we will adopt at COP16.    

Women's Caucus

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I am Edda Fernández from Avaaz, speaking on behalf of the CBD Women’s Caucus.

Distinguished Delegates, the common goal we all share is to make the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework possible.

Financing from all sources is needed, and that is the road we are building on here in Montreal.

But we are also here to ensure that we keep on walking within the “comprehensive package” that the GBF was agreed upon, which includes a whole-of-society approach, a human rights-based approach, and a strong emphasis on advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The CBD Women’s Caucus emphasises, again, that the specific reference to women, as to youth, to Indigenous Peoples and to local communities, is not just about naming them, but to effectively consider these relevant stakeholders as actors and partners in biodiversity conservation. Therefore, this approach should be reflected throughout our deliberations during this Working Group Second Meeting.

Yet, we are working with documents where key right-holders are not being referred to as partners and actors. Women are generally not even mentioned. One of many examples is paragraph 20 in document CBD/WGDSI/2/2, where women, as well as youth, are not even mentioned. And this paragraph is in the part addressing direct resource allocations; yet direct access to funding is a relevant element to effectively support biodiversity conservation on the ground, carried on by Indigenous Peoples, local communities, women and youth.

As COP16 is being prepared as a Conference of the People, the work of this Working Group should present the COP with solid recommendations on how access and benefit sharing from DSI of Genetic Resources will address and reach rights holders as actors on the ground - that is, women, youth, Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

All Parties, stakeholders and right holders in this room have collectively agreed to an ambitious plan; now, we must ensure that we apply just and inclusive principles.

The CBD Women’s Caucus stands ready as a dedicated partner in this endeavour.

Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities

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