ISSUE 38: JULY–AUGUST 2005
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UNU report calls for rules to govern deep seabed research
Vast genetic resources – “blue gold” on the international deep sea floor – need protection from unfettered commercial exploitation, warns a new report from the Japan-based United Nations University Institute for Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS).
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Increasingly recognized as important to humankind for their potential medical and other uses, deep sea resources are now more accessible and vulnerable than ever because of rapid advances in exploration technology, the report says.
Known as “extremophiles,” the genetic make-up of organisms of the deep that live in extreme conditions of pressure, temperature and toxicity is drawing enormous interest from scientists and companies bioprospecting for possible pharmaceutical or industrial applications. Already several valuable products have been created and there is growing recognition of the potential of deep sea genes to advance human welfare.
The new report, Bioprospecting of Genetic Resources in the Deep Seabed, cites rising concern about the absence of clear rules governing access to and the sharing of benefits derived from the “global commons” of the seabeds and about the potential for severe, perhaps permanent damage to these unique and sensitive ecosystems, which include seamounts, cold seeps and hydrothermal vents – the latter considered nurseries for life on Earth.
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“Deep sea ecosystems hold the promise of huge potential contributions to future human well-being, provide our planet with vital climate-related and other ecological services, and have much to teach us about life processes,” says UNU-IAS Director A.H. Zakri.
Adds report contributor Sam Johnston, senior research fellow at UNU-IAS: “The legal and policy framework is not even close to keeping pace with the fast-evolving science and technology of deep seabed bioprospecting.
“The international debate still sees governments divided over whether or how to regulate deep seabed bioprospecting. This division stems from limited knowledge about the environmental impacts and economic potential of deep seabed bioprospecting, combined with a strong sensitivity to countries’ freedoms in international areas.”
“Ethical concerns have been raised with regard to the status of deep seabed genetic resources,” says Salvatore Arico of UNESCO, a visiting research fellow at UNU-IAS and a lead author of the report with Charlotte Salpin. “These resources lie within the global commons, but are they free for anyone to take or are they the heritage and property of all humankind?”
Deep sea expeditions are increasingly frequent, their focus shifting from geological and geophysical study to ecological, biological, physiological and bioprospecting, the report says. While most research is still purely scientific, the report predicts that the promise of important new products will lead to an increase in commercial exploration.
Impediments to this research include not just the high expedition costs but the absence of clear rules governing resource access benefits sharing. Some companies say uncertainty over access procedures is a major deterrent to their research and investment, according to the report.
Bioprospecting in the seabed within territorial limits is currently regulated by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which determines states’ jurisdiction, rights and obligations in the oceans, as well as in the Convention on Biological Diversity, which governs access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing. Many of the world’s unique seabed ecosystems lie in international waters, beyond national jurisdiction with no international rules. And no state has yet adopted measures addressing bioprospecting undertaken by its nationals in international waters.
The UNU-IAS report identifies shortcomings in UNCLOS, the Convention on Biological Diversity and intellectual property rights instruments governing access and benefit-sharing to genetic resources. These include the need to:
- Establish whether describing the sequence of a genome can be considered an invention;
- Define bioprospecting;
- Develop criteria and guidelines to help states determine the implications of marine scientific research;
- Decide if marine scientific researchers/academia and private companies should be treated differently in access to deep seabed genetic resources.
- Designing a regime for bioprospecting in the deep seabed.
The report suggests the UN General Assembly adopt guidelines on deep seabed bioprospecting to be used until a binding regime is developed. The guidelines could facilitate cooperation and coordination between states and, drawing on existing global and regional instruments, include measures on conservation, sustainable use and the sharing of benefits.
© 2005 United Nations University