10SOPHIA MAGAZINE Vol. 17Conflict between developed and developing countries over genetic resourcesThe United Nations recently adopted the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement to protect marine biodiversity. We spoke with marine governance researcher Professor Yasuko Tsuru of the Faculty of Global Studies to learn about the significance of this agreement and how the extent of its scope could reach well beyond marine conservation and sustainable resource procurement.High seas that do not fall under the jurisdiction of any coun-try account for more than 60% of the earth’s oceans. The deep-est depths of these oceans are certainly home to many unknown creatures, most of which are presumed to be microorganisms that may be “genetic resources,” i.e.,with DNA containing informa-tion valuable to the development of new drugs and therefore of substantial economic benefit. This is one of the major reasons the BBNJ Agreement has become a focus of attention for the inter-national community.“The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is a ‘living’ agreement that must adapt to changes in ecosystems, international affairs, social trends, and scientific and technological advances,” Tsuru explains. “The BBNJ Agreement represents a culmination of more than 20 years of UNCLOS dis-cussions by an international community which has not only a growing interest in environmental issues, but also an awareness of technological development potential.”UNCLOS was adopted in 1982 and came into effect in 1994. It re-sulted from discussions that took place in the 1970s. Environmental concerns initially focused mainly on ocean pollution. The concept of biodiversity, first adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit, was not reflected in the convention. Countries were tasked only with prop-erly managing biological resources within their respective exclusive economic zone (EEZ). For fishing activities, the high seas were, in principle, deemed open to all countries. The convention also stipu-lates that deep seabed mineral resources are “common heritage of mankind,” the benefits of which should be fairly distributed.“Developing countries are at an overwhelming disadvantage in terms of technology to utilize these increasingly coveted ge-netic resources,” Tsuru observes. “This is why mineral resources are deemed to be the ‘common heritage of mankind.’ Developed countries already engaged in research and development, however, may find this notion difficult to accept.”She continued, “The value of genetic resources derives from in-nate ‘information’ rather than from the physical material of min-eral resources. Collecting sufficient samples from the deep sea is not that difficult of a task for a developed country. However, ad-vanced technology, time, and enormous investment is necessary in order to extract the information from a vast amount of DNA to then create effective medicines and materials.”“The expectation that economic benefits be equitably distrib-uted among all mankind removes the incentive to engage in re-search and development. For this reason, the BBNJ Agreement eschewed the use of the expression ‘common heritage of man-kind’ and instead established a fund based on developed coun-try contributions. Details on the distribution of benefits were left vague, with the understanding that this would be discussed in future conventions.”The BBNJ Agreement stipulates the creation of protected areas for important species and their habitats, and the establishment of a framework for assessing and modifying the environmental im-pact of high-seas activities.“The Japanese fishing industry is inseparable from food security, and Japan wants to avoid being subjected to any Agreement reg-ulations that would limit Japanese high-seas fishing activities,” Tsuru says. “There doesn’t seem to be reason for immediate alarm, Who Owns the Seas?Sustainable and EquitableMarine Resource Use
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