ENVIRONMENT: Asia Calls for Action on Biodiversity Convention

By Marcela Valente Reprint | | Print |

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Nov 8 1996 (IPS) - Representatives of Asian countries presently in the Argentinean capital for the conference on biodiversity want urgent action on the implementation of existing accords.

In 1992, 162 nations signed the Convention on Biological Diversity – designed to establish rules for the sustainable use and equal distribution of benefit derived from the exploitation of genes, species and ecosystems on Earth. But according to the Asian delegates, this Rio de Janeiro agreement did not get a proper follow-up.

In order to prepare for the current Third Conference of Partners, which will end at Nov. 15, representatives from 16 Asian countries met in Malaysia, late October. At that meeting, “there was agreement that the issue of the implementation of the convention needs urgent consideration,” said V. Danabalan, head of the Malaysian delegation.

Some 1,500 delegates are participating in this third meeting, representing parties to the convention. At the same time, non- governmental organisations and indigenous peoples, who are also pressuring for the implementation of the accords, are holding their own forums.

“We have been working for four years, but farmers still don’t know how to use the land in a sustainable fashion without losing money; that is why we have to stop talking and start thinking about how to implement this agreement,” said Balakrishna, of the Swaminathan Research Foundation in India.

Another specific issue is the utilization of the rich diversity of plants from Asian countries in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, which does not always yield benefits for the countries that possess these resources.

For example, the “centella” is an Asian plant used to decompress cellulite and is used by women all over the world. However, Asian countries say they do not see their share of the profit from the commercialisation of that product.

For that reason the meeting in Malaysia stressed the need to identify sources of financial support that could be directed at projects that respond specifically to the objectives of the convention. The meeting also called for greater transparency within the Global Environmental Fund (GEF).

The 1992 convention states three basic objectives: the conservation of biodiversity concentrated in developing countries, their sustainable utilisation, and the distribution of the benefits derived from their exploitation as well as that of genetic resources.

Asia believes that progress is not being made on those three fronts, but rather only on the first, that of conservation.

In order to make progress in the other aspects of the convention, it is necessary to have a better transfer of technology from the industrialised countries to the developing countries.

Asian countries also concurred on the need for the immediate adoption of a protocol on bio-security, in order to avoid uncontrolled transnational movement of genetically altered live organisms. The initiative is in the preparation stages at the Buenos Aires conference.

Asian countries also think that it is necessary to establish categorically the authority of the Conference of Partners over the institutions that operate the financial mechanism for the projects, that is, the GEF, which is part of the World Bank.

Also, the countries that met in Malaysia (Bangladesh, China, North and South Korea, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vanuatu), expressed their concern over the “negative impact of free trade on agricultural biological diversity”.

The absence of any protection in this sphere, they believe, could “undermine” the most basic objectives of the convention.