{"id":60154582,"date":"2026-10-07T19:16:45","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T18:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/?p=60154582"},"modified":"2026-10-07T19:16:55","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T18:16:55","slug":"cop17-can-countries-break-deadlock-on-sharing-benefits-from-natures-digital-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/cop17-can-countries-break-deadlock-on-sharing-benefits-from-natures-digital-data\/","title":{"rendered":"COP17: Can countries break deadlock on sharing benefits from nature\u2019s digital data?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When a pharmaceutical company uses genetic information from an Amazonian plant to develop a drug, or when an agribusiness company uses it to create a more drought-resistant crop, they are drawing on genetic information found in nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For decades, countries have developed regulations to control access to genetic resources and share benefits deriving from their use. In many cases, companies and researchers need permission to collect biological material, drawing up agreements with governments about sharing such benefits. But these regulations were built around material resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biotechnology has allowed researchers to go further. By sequencing DNA from a biological sample, researchers can put that genetic information into online databases and make it available to other researchers, who can use that information without handling the original specimen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This information is called Digital Sequence Information<\/a> (DSI), and its use has led to a simple yet complex question: given that genetic information from nature can be accessed and downloaded from these public databases for use in research and development, how should the countries and communities connected to that biodiversity benefit?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, countries agreed<\/a> to establish a new system to share benefits from such information. Two years later, they agreed<\/a> on how this would work, creating the Cali Fund<\/a>, which is expected to receive contributions<\/a> from companies that benefit commercially from DSI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, ahead of the United Nations\u2019 biodiversity summit COP17<\/a>, taking place in Armenia from 19-30 October, governments are debating how to make that system work in practice. Experts Dialogue Earth spoke to say questions remain over the framing of contributions to the fund, as well as governance issues and the fragmentary nature of regulations over such information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new system, but with unresolved questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When the Cali Fund was created at COP16, leaders<\/a> and organisations<\/a> hailed the innovation as a groundbreaking mechanism that would support biodiversity protection and the many communities that safeguard natural resources. The multilateral mechanism would channel part of the commercial value of DSI into protecting nature at a global level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to its mandate, commercial users in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, agribusiness and AI are invited to make either a contribution of 1% of annual profits or 0.1% of revenues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Recommended<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/a>\n\n\n\n

But over a year and a half after its launch, there has been low uptake, with only two companies contributing USD 6,000 in total, according<\/a> to Mongabay. This sharply contrasts with its potential: analysis<\/a> by the London School of Economics (LSE) earlier this year estimates that the fund could generate between USD 929 million to USD 3.6 billion annually across nearly 22,000 eligible companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe current capitalisation is obviously disappointing. It is, of course, also not surprising [as] this fund is a new instrument. It takes time for the market actors to become familiar with it, but also to trust that this can work,\u201d said Astrid Schomaker, executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), responding to a question from Dialogue Earth at a CBD press conference in September. The CBD is a 1992 international treaty which established the fair sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources, under which the Cali Fund was created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This low capitalisation partly relates to how the fund functions. Contributions to the Cali Fund are on a voluntary basis. Also, under a 2014 international agreement known as the Nagoya Protocol, 65 countries reported already having their own national laws on access and benefit-sharing, according to a July 2026 analysis<\/a> by the law firm Covington & Burling. These enforce legal requirements for companies to obtain permits and share benefits when using local genetic resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, companies fear<\/a> that paying into the global fund won\u2019t protect them from national enforcement, according to trade organisations like the International Chamber of Commerce. \u201cContributions are limited because companies wish to resolve critical questions first,\u201d Bart Van Vooren, a partner specialising in biodiversity law at Covington & Burling who co-authored the analysis, told Dialogue Earth. \u201cA payment into the Cali Fund, at this time, does not mean that a company has complied with [a country\u2019s] legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But experts like Siva Thambisetty, an associate professor of law at LSE, don\u2019t believe legal uncertainty is the biggest challenge. \u201cI don\u2019t support people who claim that \u2018legal certainty\u2019 is the top reason behind the unavailability of funds,\u201d she told Dialogue Earth. The only way to achieve real legal certainty is via a legally binding agreement, which companies tend to avoid, she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"lepanthes<\/div>
A lepanthes limbata<\/em> orchid native to Colombia. DSI database limitations have led some experts to raise concerns about whether countries are getting their fair share of benefits from natural resources taken from within their borders and used by companies (Image: <\/a>Sebastian Moreno<\/a>, <\/a>Flickr<\/a> \/ <\/a>CC BY-ND<\/a>)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Global South nations are questioning how multilateral mechanisms like the Cali Fund characterise corporate responsibilities. In August, over 70 developing countries signed a statement<\/a> objecting to a recent institutional memorandum of understanding between UN bodies which framed contributions to the Cali Fund as voluntary \u201cdonations\u201d rather than rights-based benefit-sharing obligations. The countries called for the memorandum and related documents to be reviewed by parties to the CBD before further negotiations on the mechanism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDonations and royalties are completely different things,\u201d said David Castro Garro, director of the Directorate of Genetic Resources and Biosafety within Peru\u2019s environment ministry. \u201cThere is a lot of disagreement between countries over language that makes it sound as if the distribution of benefits is charity, when it is an obligation and a right of countries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, greater accountability within DSI databases will be needed if countries are expected to recognise the Cali Fund as part of their benefit-sharing systems, said Nithin Ramakrishnan, a senior researcher at the advocacy non-profit Third World Network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThirty years after the CBD, many sequence databases still do not have a \u2018country of origin\u2019 metadata field for the sequences,\u201d he told Dialogue Earth. \u201cHow can CBD parties reasonably be expected to take further measures when their rights on DSI remain inadequately protected by the current DSI sharing practices?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The governance challenges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Raising money is just one step. The Cali Fund will also have to make sure the funds reach the countries and communities meant to benefit from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least 50% of the collected funds will be allocated to the self-identified needs of Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs), with the rest going to developing nations to support biodiversity conservation and scientific research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the CBD, most countries currently lack<\/a> operational distribution and monitoring systems for benefit-sharing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/div>
The World March of Indigenous Peoples through the streets of Bel\u00e9m, a side event of COP30 in Brazil in 2025. Half of the funds raised under the Cali Fund will be allocated to Indigenous communities (Image: Alberto C\u00e9sar Ara\u00fajo<\/a> \/ Amaz\u00f4nia Real<\/a>, CC BY NC SA<\/a>)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

An Indigenous community that wants to do something with their river basin may not be experts in international finance, says Ay\u015feg\u00fcl S\u0131rakaya, a biodiversity lawyer and founder of genetic resource sharing consultancy Abyss. \u201cWill the fund get to [them] directly, or will it take place in a project-based way in which they have to have a certain administrative knowledge [to be able to apply for the funding]?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

June Rubis, a researcher and member of the Cali Fund Steering Committee who represents IPLCs for Asia, told Dialogue Earth that the current delay in capital flows could be an opportunity to solve these governance bottlenecks. \u201cI would worry more if the money comes in quickly and then everything becomes rigid,\u201d she said, referring to a situation where no one can agree on how to distribute it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rubis said IPLCs should be able to access funding directly rather than face additional administrative barriers or depend on intermediaries to distribute the funding. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to receive funds and then be told what it\u2019s to do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regulation, but not in a vacuum<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The CBD\u2019s approach to regulating DSI does not take place in a vacuum. Digital genetic data are also being regulated through other international agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, also known as the High Seas Treaty, entered into force<\/a> this year and aims to provide regulations concerning marine genetic resources in the world\u2019s open sea areas. While the CBD relies on the premise of state sovereignty over national resources, the BBNJ Agreement includes the \u201ccommon heritage of mankind\u201d as a guiding principle. This establishes a mandatory benefit-sharing rule in which resources like funds and data are shared among signatories, contrasting with the CBD\u2019s country-specific agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Recommended<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/a>\n\n\n\n

The BBNJ Agreement and CBD regulate the same terminology \u2013 DSI \u2013 but they operate in fundamentally different legal contexts, said S\u0131rakaya. \u201cHaving said that, there\u2019s definitely a need for a high-level committee to discuss these things [benefit-sharing from DSI] across agreements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) system<\/a> being designed by the World Health Organization. It links access to genetic sequences of \u201cpathogens with pandemic potential\u201d with provision of vaccines and substitutes to developing countries in times of epidemics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Food and Agriculture Organization\u2019s Plant Treaty<\/a> governs plant genetic resources related to food and agriculture. It is currently being reviewed to ensure agribusinesses using public genomic databases pay into a fund to support the advancement of agricultural development and small-scale farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Yerevan stakes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

COP17 will test whether the Cali Fund can evolve from an agreement into a workable benefit-sharing mechanism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Yerevan, countries are expected to formally decide on contributors and the level of their funding. At COP16, they agreed that firms deriving considerable commercial benefit from DSI should contribute a share of their profits or revenues, having set indicative thresholds and rates. But how to determine company sizes and contribution levels was left to COP17, where the findings of a study<\/a> on implications for revenue generation and economic competitiveness will be presented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thambisetty said countries should agree a target sum, which would let them work backward to a contribution formula. \u201cA target sum focuses minds politically, allowing you to work backward to figure out how much large companies should pay and establish a contribution formula,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COP17 will also deal<\/a> with the allocation of finances. In the COP16 process, countries agreed that the fund should support biodiversity conservation and sustainable use in developing countries, as well as scientific research, capacity-building and the needs of IPLCs. But it left the precise allocation formula to be decided in Yerevan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lot could be resolved by actually testing the system on the ground<\/blockquote>Ay\u015feg\u00fcl S\u0131rakaya, biodiversity lawyer and founder of genetic resource sharing consultancy Abyss, on the Cali Fund\u2019s implementation<\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Countries are also likely to consider wider questions<\/a> about the mechanism\u2019s operation, including potential alternative methods of sharing benefits and platforms for making DSI publicly accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schomaker emphasised the need to ensure a \u201cbetter business case\u201d than the Cali Fund currently has. \u201cThat means understanding where the money goes,\u201d she said at the CBD press conference. \u201cWe also need to build more trust and confidence [among] the [resource] provider countries. This is a rights-based investment instrument and that has to be made clearer through the decisions that we are taking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever COP17 results in for the Cali Fund, some experts say it is the actual implementation of the mechanism that will lead to valuable learnings. \u201cThere is definitely hope the Cali Fund could solve some issues. Could it solve everything? I\u2019m not sure. But should we have to wait for every resolution to make a move?\u201d said S\u0131rakaya. \u201cA lot could be resolved by actually testing the system on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As world leaders prepare to gather in Armenia for the UN biodiversity conference, discussions over Digital Sequence Information are reaching a tipping point<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50000563,"featured_media":60154604,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_has_post_settings":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[764],"tags":[511,50040720,555],"hashtags":[],"country":[50041540],"class_list":["post-60154582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nature","tag-biodiversity","tag-geopolitics","tag-indigenous-peoples","country-armenia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCOP17: Can countries break deadlock on sharing benefits from nature\u2019s digital data? | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As world leaders prepare to gather in Armenia for the UN biodiversity conference, discussions over Digital Sequence Information are reaching a tipping point\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/cop17-can-countries-break-deadlock-on-sharing-benefits-from-natures-digital-data\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"COP17: Can countries break deadlock on sharing benefits from nature\u2019s digital data?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As world leaders prepare to gather in Armenia for the UN biodiversity conference, discussions over Digital Sequence Information are reaching a tipping point\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/cop17-can-countries-break-deadlock-on-sharing-benefits-from-natures-digital-data\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dialogue Earth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-07T18:16:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-07T18:16:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Rio-Negro-Sustainable-Development-Reserve_Juliana-Pesqueira_Flickr_55426368595-1-scaled-e1791384967792.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ferm\u00edn Koop\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/cop17-can-countries-break-deadlock-on-sharing-benefits-from-natures-digital-data\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/cop17-can-countries-break-deadlock-on-sharing-benefits-from-natures-digital-data\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ferm\u00edn Koop\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/d06a3b6164878cac4ffb7183fe8db3d7\"},\"headline\":\"COP17: Can countries break deadlock on sharing benefits from nature\u2019s digital data?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-07T18:16:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-07T18:16:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/cop17-can-countries-break-deadlock-on-sharing-benefits-from-natures-digital-data\/\"},\"wordCount\":1939,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/cop17-can-countries-break-deadlock-on-sharing-benefits-from-natures-digital-data\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Rio-Negro-Sustainable-Development-Reserve_Juliana-Pesqueira_Flickr_55426368595-1-scaled-e1791384967792.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Biodiversity\",\"Geopolitics\",\"Indigenous peoples\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Nature\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/cop17-can-countries-break-deadlock-on-sharing-benefits-from-natures-digital-data\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/cop17-can-countries-break-deadlock-on-sharing-benefits-from-natures-digital-data\/\",\"name\":\"COP17: Can countries break deadlock on sharing benefits from nature\u2019s digital data? 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