Access and Benefit Sharing Mechanism: A Theoretical Framework

Abstract

The loss of biodiversity became a major concern for the entire world at the end of the 20th century. A series of serious debates were organized across the globe for meeting out a solution with international cooperation to prevent the loss of biodiversity and to conserve it for the future generation and sustenance of the ecosystem. It was well agreed that for the conservation of biodiversity, restriction on the utilization of natural resources might not be the best solution since human existence is impossible without utilizing such resources. This mutual understanding gave birth to the concept of sustainable utilization where resources were to be used in a manner which would not exploit the right of the existing as well as future generations and at the same time will also preserve the natural ecosystem. However, for the application of this ideology, several principles and concepts were drafted at international, regional, and national levels but there seemed to be a lack of conformity between the objectives of such principles and concepts and the targets achieved through their implementation. The main reason was the increasing demands of such resources and the lack of concern for their conservation. At last, the Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) system was introduced that aimed for bridging the gap between commercialization and conservation through proper value addition to the resources and distribution of benefits to the actual owners of such resources for their better conservation. This paper will focus on the theoretical basis on which such an ABS is based upon for justifying the parameters required by the legal instruments for achieving the targets sought.