The Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Nagoya Protocol first addressed the issue of digital sequence information on genetic resources at their respective meetings held in December 2016. At its most recent meeting, the Conference of the Parties adopted decision 14/20 which noted the divergence of views of Parties on this matter and decided to establish a science and policy-based process, which included the convening of an Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG). For more information, see : What has been done on DSI.

What's new

---

Open-ended Working Group 3 on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework

Digital sequence information on genetic resources was considered by the Open-ended Working Group on the post-2020 global biodiversity (Working Group) framework during the 1st part of its third meeting taking place virtually from 23 August to 3 September 2021. The meeting documents are available here. A Contact Group on DSI was established by the co-chairs, and Mr. Gaute Voigt-Hanssen (Norway) and Ms. Lactitia Tchitwamulomoni (South Africa), were designated to co-lead the group. One of the outcomes of this Contact Group was a general support for intersessional work consisting of:

a) an invitation for the submission of new views on how to address DSI under the Convention and the Nagoya Protocol, based on but not limited to the information and elements contained in document CBD/WG2020/3/4 through notification 2021-063 ; and

b) a need to update the synthesis of possible policy approaches, options or modalities and build a framework for the assessment of those based on a set of existing criteria, with a view to identifying potential advantages and disadvantages of each. To support this work, the co-leads, together with the Co-Chairs and the Bureau, established the Informal Co-Chairs Advisory Group on DSI. The co-leads of the Contact Group on DSI will present the update the summary of convergence and divergence on DSI based on submissions, present the framework for policy assessment, and give recommendations for further work during the plenary of the second part of the third meeting of the Working Group, planned to take place in January 2022.

Webinar 4 and Discussion Forum: Criteria to Consider Policy Options on DSI

The fourth webinar of the series on digital sequence information on genetic resources, and an online discussion forum. The informal online discussion forum enabled Parties and stakeholders to share information and views on policy options and evaluation criteria. The forum was kicked off by the 4th webinar in the DSI series and focused on criteria for the evaluation of policy options with regards to digital sequence information on genetic resources.

This event was organized by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity under the leadership of the Co-chairs of the Open-ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.

Click here to view recent webinars from the series on DSI

For more information please see the following webinar summary:
POLICY OPTIONS FOR ACCESS AND BENEFIT SHARING AND DIGITAL SEQUENCE INFORMATION (Webinar Summary)