Scheduled maintenance: on September 29, 2026, from 22:00 to 23:00 UTC, our website may be intermittently unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Photo by IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis

Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Benefit-sharing from the Use of Digital Sequence Information (DSI) on Genetic Resources 

- Second Meeting

12 - 16 August 2024 - Montreal, Canada

 

The second meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Benefit-sharing from the Use of Digital Sequence Information on Genetic Resources (WGDSI-2) will take place from 12 -16 August 2024 at the ICAO Conference Centre in Montreal, Canada.

The CBD Secretariat would like to acknowledge the generous contributions received from the following Parties who have supported the participation of delegates from developing countries and from indigenous peoples and local communities: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Republic of Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 

The main agenda item, captured in document CBD/WGDSI/2/2, is the further development of the multilateral mechanism for benefit-sharing from the use of digital sequence information on genetic resources, including a global fund, which COP 15 of the CBD established by virtue of decision 15/9.

The meeting documents that the accredited participants will examine include a summary of reflections by Mphatso Kalemba (Malawi) and William Lockhart (United Kingdom), the elected Co-Chairs of the Committee of the Whole, and the executive summary of studies commissioned by the CBD Secretariat. The package provides technical insights and policy options that will advance the negotiations on how the DSI multilateral mechanism and the associated global fund are envisaged to operate in practice. 

Side-Events offering a variety of perspectives and proposals will take place from 12-15 August 2024.  

The meeting will be covered by IISD/Earth Negotiations Bulletin: https://enb.iisd.org/oewg-2-digital-sequence-information-genetic-resources-dsi-cbd

The hashtag of the meeting on social media is #WGDSI2. 

 

Essential background 

The DSI multilateral mechanism, including  a global fund, was established by virtue of decision 15/9 of COP 15 as part of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF). 

Goal C and Target 13 of the KMGBF also address digital sequence information on genetic resources. A global fund was established alongside the multilateral mechanism to organize monetary benefit-sharing associated with the use of DSI on genetic resources. 

The multilateral mechanism has the potential to support the achievement of the three overarching objectives of the CBD, namely: the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of the components of biological diversity, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources. 

Industries using DSI on genetic resources range from medicine, pharmaceuticals, food products and cosmetics, to enhanced seeds, textiles, feed for animals, as well as co-adjuvants and enhancers used in manufacturing processes. Laboratory equipment manufacturers and software developers are also among the sectors that benefit from the use of DSI.


What is being negotiated at WGDSI-2? 

The negotiation process has advanced to the point where Parties to the CBD and stakeholders are ready to consider options on how the multilateral mechanism would operate in practice. In June 2024, the CBD Secretariat released a compilation of technical proposals and policy options contained in document WGDSI/2/2 for the Parties to consider as they contemplate the operationalization of the mechanism and the associated global fund.

The ongoing negotiations on the operationalization of the multilateral mechanism aim to secure a cost-effective, efficient and simple solution. The Parties to the CBD agreed that the process leading to this desired outcome should be fair, transparent, inclusive, participatory and time bound. 

Negotiators will seek agreement on the practical modalities of the functioning of the multilateral mechanism: who will pay for using DSI on genetic resources, how much they will pay, what would trigger the payments, how the collected payments will be disbursed and how the entire set-up would be managed. 

In the following five-episode series, Mphatso Kalemba (Malawi) and William Lockhart (United Kingdom), the elected Co-Chairs of the Committee of the Whole, share views on the multilateral mechanism and what is at stake at the forthcoming round of negotiations on DSI. The edited videos are based on an interview conducted by the CBD Secretariat communication team with the Co-Chairs on 29 May on the sidelines of the SBI-4 meeting in Nairobi. 

Important notice: the following videos were produced for communication and outreach purposes and do not constitute surrogates for the WGDSI-2 meeting documents. 

© IISD/ENB - Kiara Worth

 

What is at stake? 

The multilateral mechanism, including a global fund, is expected to: 

  • Provide a multilateral solution and policy guidance on the fair and equitable benefit-sharing from the use of digital sequence information on genetic resources. 
  • Generate non-monetary benefits that can help to bridge scientific, technical and technological gaps in the way DSI on genetic resources is accessed and used around the world. The multilateral mechanism is expected to bolster capacity-building and development and technology transfer.
  • Mobilize new streams of additional funding for biodiversity conservation. 

 

Negotiation milestones 

WGDSI-2 will build on previous milestones:

  • The first meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-Ended Working Group on Benefit-sharing from the Use of Digital Sequence Information on Genetic Resources (WGDSI-1, 14-18 November 2023, Geneva, Switzerland), where Parties, non-Parties, indigenous peoples and local communities and other stakeholders discussed policy options and other elements pertaining to the operationalization of the fund. Their work drew upon intersessional work, including lessons learned from other international funding mechanisms and a synthesis of views on issues that were identified by Parties in COP-15 as needing further consideration.
  • Although DSI was not on the agenda of SBSTTA-25 a , the Parties addressed related issues in the context of discussions on the monitoring framework of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

WGDSI-2 will also consider the deliberations of the Informal Advisory Group on DSI, established by WGDSI-1 to work in the intersessional period. 

COP 16 of the CBD will consider the Ad Hoc Open Ended Working Group’s recommendations on the further development of the multilateral mechanism, including elements of a draft decision. 

 


Learn More

  • About DSI: There is no internationally agreed definition of Digital Sequence Information (DSI) and it is not the only term used. DSI in this context refers to information on the basic building blocks of life that are encapsulated in DNA. 
  • About genetic resources: the term means genetic material of actual or potential value derived from non-human sources, including the DNA of plants, animals or microorganisms.