International agreements, including the Convention on Biodiversity, seek to address the sustainability of bioprospecting and the equitable sharing of benefits with indigenous peoples.
One of the largest international environmental agreements, the CBD's three objectives include conservation of biodiversity; sustainable use of biodiversity; and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits from genetic resources of biodiversity.
The CBD also referred to the traditional knowledge of indigenous and local communities on the use of biological resources and to equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of such knowledge.
Central among the thorniest aspects of implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is how to make progress on the Convention's objectives of guaranteeing appropriate access to genetic sources and arranging for the equitable sharing of benefits derived from these sources.
A number of states party to the Protocol, a cryptic document designed to ensure the "fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources," enshrines a principle of state sovereignty over the genetic sequences of all life including those of pathogens within state territory.
Conversely, supplemental income from wildlife may encourage greater tolerance for biodiversity and, along with more equitable sharing of benefits from livestock and greater empowerment of local communities in the national and international arena, could also help foster continued co-existence between wildlife and pastoralists (Reid 2012).
But when it came to subscribing to the equitable sharing of benefits from the sea, the U.S. balked, bogging down negotiations for more than a decade.
Its focus is to improve forest conservation and management and to ensure equitable sharing of benefits among stakeholders.
Safeguards must be firmly put in place to ensure that trade is based on legal and sustainable forest use, fair labour conditions and equitable sharing of benefits.
International governance mechanisms and processes must support sustainable growth (and the equitable sharing of benefits) in all agriculture sectors, protecting natural resources and discouraging collateral damage.
Most of the resolution consists of requests by WHO member states for the director-general to undertake activities designed to achieve fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from influenza surveillance activities, especially access to vaccines (Table).
