Common Pool Resources and ABS

Kabir Bavikatte (Natural Justice) presented on common pools of traditional knowledge at a side event on October 21 that was organized by the University of Bremen. The side event discussed the challenge of distributive justice in bilateral access and benefit sharing (ABS) exchanges between providers and users under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), especially when knowledge and genetic resources are collectively held. Speakers emphasized on a reading of the CBD as enabling voluntary multilateral solutions that could include common pools of genetic material and traditional knowledge. Overall, the side event presented on preliminary empirical and legal analysis of the typology of common pools and sought to explain the emergence of common pools. Presentations also highlighted the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) as a best practice multilateral common pool practice that needs to be replicated.