There is still no consensus on whether the negotiations will result in three separate instruments on genetic resources, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, or if there will be one combined instrument. There is also disagreement around the nature of the instrument(s), namely whether they will be legally binding or not. 

While representatives of indigenous peoples were allocated a greater role in the discussions, they were not able to achieve the changes in the WIPO rules that they sought. The Indigenous Peoples’ Caucus released a closing statement expressing their disappointment that the IGC ‘has not substantive and concrete steps to ensure the full, equal, and direct participation of Indigenous Peoples in WIPO Processes that affect us.’ 

A summary of the proceedings can be found here. The meeting documents can be found here. The Indigenous Peoples’ Caucus’s closing statement can be found here. 

The brief “seeks to answer these questions by examining the evolution of the global debate on IPRs and green technologies from the Earth Summit in 1992 to Rio+20. It then makes some suggestions about how to foster a more constructive dialogue on this issue in the aftermath of the Rio+20 Summit.” 

The brief can be downloaded here.

The workshop is split into two sections. The first section will concentrate on the CBD, in particular articles 8j and 10c, and includes a closer look at the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits arising from their Utilization. Gino Cocchiaro, Lassana Kone and Johanna von Braun from Natural Justice supported this last segment through an introduction to biocultural community protocols and their value in the context of ABS. 

The second section of the workshop includes an introductory training on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and ABS, organized on the specific request of ILC representatives to the ABS Initiative, with the aim of better understanding IPRs.