Since the United Nations held the Human Environment Conference in Stockholm, Sweden in 1972, governments have signed a series of regional and international agreements on environmental protection. In 1992, the largest summit on environmental issues in human history, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, was held in Rio de Janeiro, where two important international conventions were signed, namely the United Nations Climate Change Convention and the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted at the seventh meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee initiated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi on June 1, 1992, and signed by the signatory countries at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on June 5, 1992. China signed the convention on June 11, 1992, ratified it on November 7, 1992, and deposited its instrument of accession on January 5, 1993. The motivation of the Convention on Biological Diversity is to establish a benefit-sharing system between biotechnology patents and genetic resources to prevent transnational biotechnology companies from plundering other countries’ genetic resources and applying them unfairly, unjustly and disrespectfully. It is a major move by the international community to improve and modify the contemporary international protection system of intellectual property rights. The convention establishes the principle of fair and reasonable sharing of the benefits of genetic resources, especially for commercial use, involving the rapidly developing field of biotechnology, including biotechnology development, transfer, benefit sharing and biosafety.
The Convention on Biological Diversity mainly establishes three goals: protection of biodiversity; sustainable use of biodiversity components; sharing of commercial benefits and other forms of use of genetic resources in a fair and reasonable manner.
The Convention on Biological Diversity is a convention involving the distribution of benefits. The “fair and reasonable sharing of commercial benefits of genetic resources” determined by developing countries greatly reflects the demands of developing countries. At the same time, three principles are also determined: the principle of state sovereignty; the principle of mutual cooperation; and the principle of differential treatment. The Convention on Biological Diversity has a total of 42 articles and 2 annexes, of which Articles 1 to 5 are general provisions, Articles 6 to 21 are substantive provisions, and Articles 22 to 42 are procedural provisions, covering measures and incentives for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, access to genetic resources, transfer of biotechnology, technical and scientific cooperation, impact assessment, education and public awareness, etc.