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Cumulative Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) disbursements by the National Biodiversity Authority have crossed Rs 200 crore.
The NBA has sanctioned Rs 8.23 crore to 27 State Biodiversity Boards and 5 Union Territory Biodiversity Councils from the utilisation of bitter gourd, okra, chilli and onion.
The proceeds came from seed companies Nunhems India, East West Seeds India and Bayer Science and Innovation for access to these biological resources.
Because the resources were sourced through the open market and could not be traced to identifiable farmers or communities, the money is distributed by area under cultivation as published by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
Madhya Pradesh (Rs 1.17 crore) and Maharashtra (Rs 1.01 crore) are the largest recipients; funds must be used for purposes listed in Section 32(2) of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
Enacted to give effect to the Convention on Biological Diversity; creates the three-tier structure of NBA, State Biodiversity Boards and Biodiversity Management Committees, and regulates access to India's biological resources and associated traditional knowledge
Prescribes what State Boards may spend such funds on — the conservation and community-benefit uses named in this disbursement
Assented on 3 August 2023; decriminalised most offences by replacing imprisonment with monetary penalties, exempted AYUSH practitioners and users of codified traditional knowledge from benefit-sharing in specified cases, fixed BMC size at 7 to 11 members and introduced a certificate of origin from BMCs
Supplementary agreement to the CBD on access to genetic resources and fair and equitable sharing of benefits; adopted at Nagoya, Japan on 29 October 2010 and entered into force on 12 October 2014
Statutory autonomous body implementing the Biological Diversity Act, 2002; regulates access by foreign entities and approves benefit-sharing modalities
Regulate access by Indian entities within the state and receive and spend ABS proceeds; 27 SBBs and 5 UTBCs received the current tranche
Local bodies at panchayat and municipal level that document local biodiversity in People's Biodiversity Registers and levy collection fees; strengthened by the 2023 amendment with a 7-11 member composition and a certificate-of-origin power
Services the CBD and its protocols, including the Nagoya Protocol
When a company uses a country's biological resources or associated traditional knowledge commercially, it must obtain prior approval and share a part of the resulting benefit with the providers. The sharing may be monetary or in the form of technology, joint research or capacity building.
Simple Analogy: A royalty paid to the owner of the raw material, not just to the inventor.
| Instrument | Adopted | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| Convention on Biological Diversity | 1992, Rio Earth Summit | Conservation, sustainable use and fair sharing of benefits from biodiversity |
| Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety | 2000 | Safe transboundary movement of living modified organisms |
| Nagoya Protocol | 2010, in force 12 October 2014 | Access to genetic resources and sharing of benefits from their utilisation |
| Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework | COP15, December 2022 | Four goals and 23 targets to 2030, including 30x30 (Target 3) and benefit sharing (Target 13) |
Community-level documentation of local biological resources and associated knowledge, maintained by BMCs; ABS money is explicitly earmarked for updating them
Areas of unique biodiversity notified by state governments under the Biological Diversity Act, on advice of local bodies; strengthening them is a permitted use of these funds
The unauthorised commercial use of biological resources or traditional knowledge that ABS regulation exists to prevent — the turmeric and neem patent disputes are the standard illustrations
Target 13 extends benefit sharing to digital sequence information on genetic resources, the frontier issue in current ABS negotiations
GS Paper 3 > Environment > Conservation, Environmental Legislation and International Conventions
General Awareness > Environment and Static GK
Consider the following statements: 1. In India, the Biodiversity Management Committees are key to the realization of the objectives of the Nagoya Protocol. 2. The Biodiversity Management Committees have important functions in determining access and benefit sharing, including the power to levy collection fees on the access of biological resources within its jurisdiction. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer: Both 1 and 2
With reference to 'Global Environment Facility', which of the following statements is/are correct?
Answer: It serves as financial mechanism for 'Convention on Biological Diversity' and 'United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change'
The Biological Diversity Act and BMCs have appeared repeatedly in UPSC Prelims environment questions
The requirement that users of biological resources obtain prior approval and share the resulting benefits with the providers
A local record of biological resources, their uses and associated traditional knowledge, prepared and maintained by a Biodiversity Management Committee
Conservation of species within their natural habitat, as against conservation outside it in gene banks, botanical gardens or zoos
Genetic sequence data held digitally rather than as physical material; whether it attracts benefit-sharing obligations is the live ABS question