Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat a Chathaoirligh, agus leis an coiste. I thank them for the opportunity to address them as we move to ratify the Nagoya Protocol. It is a landmark agreement in the international governance of biodiversity that was adopted at the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties on 29 October 2010 in Japan. While it has taken longer than we might have liked, I am proud that Ireland is now in a position to bring this important framework forward.

The Nagoya Protocol aims to ensure the equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources. In plain English, this means it seeks to ensure everyone benefits from and has access to the bounty of nature’s diversity. Biodiversity, or the variety of life on earth, is a technical term that encompasses biological diversity at the level of the ecosystem, the species and the gene. The Nagoya Protocol focuses on the latter, that is, the genetic resources. Genetic resources comprise all genetic material of actual or potential value. Essentially, they encompass all living organisms, namely, plants, animals and microbes, that carry genetic material that is potentially useful to humans. Genetic resources can be taken from the wild, domesticated or cultivated. They are sourced from natural environments or human-made collections, such as botanical gardens, gene banks, seed banks and microbial culture collections. They have many commercial and non-commercial applications across a range of sectors, including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, technology, academia, food, agriculture and other industries.

The Nagoya Protocol emerged from a global treaty, namely, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, which is known as the CBD, to which Ireland is party, along with 195 others, including the European Union. The CBD has three main aims, which are securing the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilisation of genetic resources. The latter aim is the subject of the Nagoya Protocol.

In the context of current global efforts to tackle the biodiversity crisis, fairness in the distribution of benefits and the concept of a just transition are crucial. I recently attended the CBD’s Biodiversity COP15 in Montreal, Canada, where access and benefit sharing was a major focus of the negotiations on the new global framework for nature. The protocol underpins this by providing a strong basis for greater legal certainty and transparency for provider countries of genetic resources utilised in research and development in third countries. This relationship usually involves a less developed country provider and a more developed country user. Ratification will enhance Ireland’s reputation as a positive actor for biodiversity. It will also bring us into line with the 20 other EU member states that have ratified the protocol. For industry and academia, especially in research and development, ratification will demonstrate Ireland’s commitment to having an appropriate legislative and regulatory framework in place when it comes to the important issue of access and benefit sharing. There was a delay in Ireland moving to ratify the protocol due to a number of factors, including the need to introduce legislation in Ireland to implement Regulation (EU) No 511/2014, which provides a framework for the protocol in the EU, as well as pressure from other priorities in the biodiversity area in recent years.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is the lead authority with respect to the implementation of the EU access and benefit sharing, ABS, regulation and the Nagoya Protocol in Ireland. Cabinet approved a memo for Government on ratification of the protocol in June 2022. It is now necessary, and indeed welcome, for us to move the process forward and ratify this vital framework. I look forward to members' questions, which I and my officials will do our best to answer.