Demystifying the Convention on Biological Diversity

Hector Quemada and David O'Brochta, GeneConvene Global Collaborative, 2022.

GeneConvene Global Collaborative

Webinar Series:

Demystifying the Convention

on Biological Diversity

April 20, 27, May 4, 11, 18, 25 , 2022
11 am- 12:30pm
(Washington, D.C.)

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is an international agreement aimed at providing the legal framework for country cooperation to conserve biodiversity, while also enabling its sustainable use, and providing for fair and equitable sharing of the benefits derived from that use. It became effective in 1993 when the first 30 countries signed it, but now has 196 parties. Biotechnology figures prominently in this agreement, since one of its major goal is to “promote and advance priority access on a fair and equitable basis by Contracting Parties, especially developing countries, to the results and benefits arising from biotechnologies.” The CBD provides the basis for regulations on biotechnologies, particularly genetically engineered organisms (including gene drive organisms). While the convention, and its subsidiary agreements, have a significant impact on the regulatory environment within which synthetic gene drive research takes place, the procedures and decision-making processes connected with the CBD are often not transparent to researchers and others who do not closely follow the proceedings.

This webinar series will introduce the researcher who is not an expert on the CBD to the following topics:

– its history and political background,
– the development of its oversight of synthetic biology and gene drives, and
– the key points of interest to major country and stakeholder groups who will be involved in the decisions that will be negotiated at the upcoming conference of the parties that will be held in China later in 2022.

We hope that this knowledge will enable researchers to better engage with the representatives their countries will be sending to the conference. This input by researchers into the decision-making process is important to assure that decisions reached by the CBD are informed by accurate scientific information.

April 20, 2022	Biotechnology and Biosafety in the Biodiversity Convention and its Protocols
	Speaker: Dr. Piet van der Meer, Guest Professor, Ghent University, Vrije Universiteit Brussels Belgium

A Table of Contents is available when viewed on YouTube.