CBD Convention on Biological Diversity [to 6 February 2016]
http://www.cbd.int/press-releases/

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2016-02-01
Statement by Mr. Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, CBD Executive Secretary, on the occasion of the Expert Group Meeting on Article 10 of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing, Montreal, Canada, 1 – 3 February 2016
…As you are all aware, the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and
Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising entered into force just over one year ago, on 12 October
2014. The Protocol supports the further implementation of one of the three objectives of the Convention: the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources, including by appropriate access to genetic resources.

In October 2014, when the Protocol entered into force, it had 51 Parties , but the number of
ratifications continues to grow, and the Protocol now has 70 Parties, with more ratifications expected in the coming months. Our objective is to reach 100 ratifications by the time of the second meeting of the Parties to the Protocol, which will be held in Cancun, Mexico, in December of this year.

The theme for the meetings in Mexico in December is “Integration of biodiversity for well-being”. This is linked to this year’s International Day for Biological Diversity on May 22nd when we will be celebrating biodiversity and its role in sustaining people and their livelihoods. ABS is an important component of this theme. Maintaining the diversity of our genetic resources and their associated traditional knowledge is critical to both the development of new products and services that can improve all our lives as well as to the people who already depend on genetic diversity and traditional knowledge for their day-to-day well-being. The equity dimension of access to genetic resources an d associated traditional knowledge in exchange for the sharing of benefits also holds great potential to contribute to sustainable development…