Previous informed consent as the core principle for the conference on biodiversity

Abstract

The UN’s Conference on Biodiversity (CBD) is currently at a crossroads, defining its new strategic plan aimed to last at least until 2050. With the global coronavirus pandemic, this new document has gained even more attention since it monitors and accesses biodiversity and its uses across the globe. Relying on the document’s first draft, a proposition for the Conference to recognize that Previous Informed Consent (PIC) – a institute that assures consent within a negotiation – is a guiding principle for all further negotiations and documents made by the CBD is found. PIC has been an institution within international law for over 50 years, having been inserted into CBD treaties and documents. Even so, PIC faces fierce opposition from parties and private sectors due to their fear of losing economic and negotiation power on biodiversity access deals, which define the means of a species commercial and industrial applications as well as the benefit repartition of profits. This work analyzes the CBD’s structure, international bodies, international jurisprudence, and doctrine to demonstrate that the adoption of PIC as a principle is not only logical but also an action that benefits all parties involved, whether for assuring rights and legal certainty, better tracking, standardization of interpretations of the institute, or the like.