Research Report
Global discourse and national policies for conservation and sustainable use of biological resources
Ⅰ. Backgrounds and Purposes
▶ The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) came into force on December 29, 1993. Currently, there are 196 Parties to the Convention, including the Republic of Korea and the European Union. In Korea, the CBD came into force on January 1, 1995.
○ In the process of implementing the CBD, the Parties agree on various policy goals and decisions on biodiversity, including the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing and Aichi Biodiversity Target.
○ For the implementation of the CBD, it is important to have a clear understanding of the international issues and outcomes of the negotiations (decisions) on biodiversity conservation and sustainable use.
○ It is necessary to understand the changes in international policy and international discourse on biodiversity based on the documents on biodiversity conventions.
▶ All Parties are developing national strategies for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use and introducing various policy instruments to achieve their goals.
○ Parties utilize a variety of policy instruments, including laws and regulations, payment of ecosystem services (PES), and designation and management of protected areas, to effectively implement the CBD.
○ By analyzing the policy types by country, we can get a grasp of the current situation and use the examples of various policy instruments and the outcomes as the foundation for establishing and supplementing our biodiversity policy.
▶ This report analyzes the global policy discourse on and policy instruments for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of biological resources, in an effort to contributes to improving the legal and institutional framework of Korea's biodiversity strategy and implementation system.
Ⅱ. Major Content
▶ Global discourse on biodiversity
○ Review the major agenda items and contents of the decisions of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the CBD
- Review of major decisions, such as the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the Nagoya Protocol
○ Review of other conventions related to biodiversity
- Biosafety: Biodiversity and human health
- Right and Equity: Benefit sharing; indigenous and local community as stakeholders
- Protected areas and compensation: Compensation for designation of protected areas (Payment for Environmental Services)
- Biodiversity Liaison Group through cooperation among seven international conventions for achieving the common goal of biodiversity conservation (From fragmentation to integration of the global biodiversity regime)
▶ Biodiversity Policy Instruments
○ Analysis of the Fifth Biodiversity National Reports of 29 OECD countries
○ Legal and regulatory instruments
- Laws related to biodiversity are introduced for environmental protection, nature conservation, forest management, water resource management, wildlife management, natural parks management etc.
- Specific laws on biodiversity in Korea, Japan, and Australia
- Specific laws on genetic resources in the Czech Republic, Germany, Korea, Turkey and Lithuania
- Specific laws on biosafety and living modified organisms (LMOs) in Korea and Japan to implement the Nagoya Protocol
- Voluntary agreements for biodiversity conservation
○ Economic and financial instruments
- Most countries have established budget and fiscal mechanisms on biodiversity
- Some countries have tax and compensation schemes including PES
- Finnish Forest Biodiversity Programme METSO 2008-2025 as a PES targeting private forest owners
○ Social and information-based instruments
- Most countries share biodiversity-related information and opinions through conferences and forums
- Most countries have established biodiversity-related networks and partnerships
- Forest management certification systems are applied to preserve and manage biodiversity in some countries such as Germany and Finland
○ Planning instruments
- Most countries have developed national plans and national strategies on biodiversity, and they implement programs and projects
- All target countries design and manage protected areas
○ Model cases
- Biosafety: The Act on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity through Regulations on the Use of Living Modified Organisms in Japan
- Compensation: Forest Biodiversity Programme METSO 2008-2025 (PES) in Southern Finland
- Benefit sharing of genetic resources: The Act on Access and Utilization of Genetic Resources and Benefit Sharing in Korea
Ⅲ. Expected Effects
○ To get a grasp of the international trends and discourses on the CBD, and to use them as basic data for establishing domestic policies and plans
○ To identify the types of policy measures on biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of biological resources by region or country, and use the results to establish domestic implementation plans.