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UNCTAD Secretary-General Kituyi hails the entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity

08 October 2014

The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), enters into force, having secured the required number of ratifications by Parties to the CBD, ​on 12 October 2014.

I congratulate the Parties and the Executive Secretary of the CBD on this historic achievement in the annals of multilateral environmental agreements.

It will have major, and I believe, positive implications for genetic resource flows, trade in biodiversity-based products and related R&D activities. These strengthen the conservation of biodiversity, its sustainable use and ensure more equitable access to and sharing of benefits between communities and companies.

The Nagoya Protocol in particular provides a clear, transparent, practical and legal framework for the sharing of benefits from commercial activities derived from accessing biological resources and related traditional knowledge between users and providers of such resources. By doing so, the Protocol is a key instrument in the broader package of legislative and policy tools to foster sustainable development and eradicate poverty.

The operationalization of the Protocol also has ramifications beyond the realm of biological diversity. At present, with multilateralism facing challenges on different fronts, the entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol is a landmark. It demonstrates the enduring value of multilateralism to countries in overcoming their differences in advancing common goals.

UNCTAD thus welcomes the Protocol's operationalization and looks forward to continuing collaboration with the Parties and the CBD secretariat in its implementation, including through our BioTrade Initiative and intellectual property-related work.

Mukhisa Kituyi,
Secretary-General of UNCTAD

 
BioTrade