Define Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) with respect to the use of natural resources and also delineate its significance. Highlight India’s legal and institutional framework for implementing the ABS. Also delineate the lacunae in implementing the ABS in India.
Define Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) with respect to the use of natural resources and also delineate its significance. Highlight India’s legal and institutional framework for implementing the ABS. Also delineate the lacunae in implementing the ABS in India.
Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS):
- It is an agreement that defines the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of natural resources.The model framework for this agreement is present in the Nagoya protocol which is part of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Importance of ABS:
- It provides the local communities with monetary or non-monetary benefits which otherwise will not be available to them from the profit-making companies.
- It enables the orderly spreading of traditional knowledge of local people associated with the genetic resources.
Institutional Framework for implementing this agreement:
- The Indian Biodiversity Act, 2002 mandates the Equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of biological resources.
- At the local level Biodiversity Management Committees are established under both municipalities and panchayats.
- Under it, a company is required to share 0.5 per cent of its sales post taxes if its annual turnover is above Rs 3 crore.
- It also provides for the involvement of indigenous and local communities (ILCs) through biodiversity management committees (BMCs) in preparation of people’s biodiversity registers (PBRs) and issuance of mutually agreed terms (MAT).
- State biodiversity authorities and National Biodiversity authorities are incharge for implementing the access and benefit sharing provisions at the states and national levels respectively.
Lacunae in Implementing ABS:
- Less than 16% of the local bodies have constituted Biodiversity Management committees.
- Less than 3% of the local bodies have prepared the people's biodiversity registers.
- The local representation in both National Biodiversity authority and State Biodiversity authority is minimal.
- Still a large number of Corporate industries are yet to register with State Biodiversity Committee ( thereby bypassing the requirements)
- Many industries get the resources or knowledge from the local communities only through intermediaries.
Conclusion:
- India is losing a minimum Rs30,000 crores annually due to laxity in the implementation of access and benefit sharing provisions of Biodiversity Act. Hence its urgent implementation is the need of the hour
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