FOCUS: Biodiversity talks to test Japan's leadership amid large gaps

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TOKYO, Oct. 18 Kyodo -
(EDS: REFILING WITH BYLINE, CHANGING DATELINE)
An international conference that got under way Monday in Nagoya on the
preservation of plants, animals and other species as well as their sustainable
use is set to test Japan's capacity as chair of the meeting, which many hope
will produce new goals for stemming the loss of biodiversity.
But the challenge appears great given the deep division between developing and
industrialized countries over a proposed protocol on how to share benefits from
the commercial use of genetic resources derived from plants, animals and
microorganisms, which are often found in developing countries.
Scientists say that if the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity
fail to agree on new targets for curbing biodiversity loss during their meeting
in the central Japanese city through Oct. 29, the talks would be billed a
''failure.''
From this aspect, they said, Japan bears a heavy responsibility to steer the
meeting to a successful conclusion, despite remaining differences on the major
issues of compiling new biodiversity conservation targets for the decade
starting 2011 and finalizing the access and benefit-sharing protocol.
Toru Nakashizuka, a professor of plant ecology at Tohoku University's Graduate
School of Life Sciences, said Japan ''needs to get an agreement on the targets
at all costs,'' while expressing hope that ''at least some form of agreement
can be achieved'' in setting post-2010 goals for biodiversity preservation.
In Nagoya, representatives of the more than 190 parties to the Convention on
Biological Diversity are negotiating new targets for 2011-2020, following the
failure to achieve the 2002 target of a ''significant reduction'' in the rate
of biodiversity loss by 2010.
For the new targets, Japan and developing countries are calling for ''effective
and urgent action towards halting the loss of biodiversity,'' while the
European Union is advocating such action ''to halt the loss of biodiversity by
2020.''
Some important numerical targets are also expected to be included in a
strategic plan for 2020, including those concerning protected areas, but
disagreements remain among countries over the specific targets and some wording
in the plan's text.
Another major point of contention in the talks is over creating a legally
binding framework for the equitable sharing of benefits accrued from the
commercialization of genetic resources, often as medicines and health products,
between provider and user countries.
Developing countries, which are often the origin of such resources, are calling
for a greater share of benefits, saying that the protocol should address what
they call ''bio-piracy'' by industrialized countries.
But developed countries are hesitant about providing a bigger share of the
benefits because they do not want to place a burden on businesses that thrive
on products developed from genetic resources.
Given the deep rift, Tohoku University's Nakashizuka said the parties may find
it difficult to come to an agreement on the proposed protocol during the talks
in Nagoya.
At a briefing in Tokyo last week, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official admitted
that prospects of an agreement on the protocol remain uncertain, saying he even
thought earlier that reaching an accord would be an ''impossible task.''
But Shinsuke Sugiyama, the ministry's director general for global issues, said,
''As chair of the meeting, Japan will strive for an international agreement
over sharply divided issues,'' adding that the host country would seek some
kind of achievement even if a perfect accord cannot be attained.
Some scientists still express concern over what they see as undue attention
paid to the disagreement over benefit-sharing involving genetic resources -- a
dispute often viewed as one manifestation of long-running ''North-South''
problems -- arguing that it has no direct bearing on the preservation of
biodiversity.
''Admittedly, things tend to heat up over the issue of (access and
benefit-sharing) because you can easily see direct (economic) relationships in
it,'' said Keiichi Koga, an expert on environmental issues at the Japan
Research Institute, a think tank.
''But this is a framework for the movement of biological resources. It doesn't
mean the money gained there would be used for preservation,'' he noted.
Cautioning against moves among some developing countries to use their support
for post-2010 targets as a bargaining chip to gain concessions on the issue of
benefit sharing, Koga said that as host nation, Japan must properly guide
debate at the talks.
==Kyodo
2010-10-18 23:35:49