World · East Asia & Pacific · 3 hrs ago
COP17 faces questions over sharing benefits from genetic data
Governments will debate benefit-sharing rules at COP17 in Armenia, the UN biodiversity conference taking place from 19 to 30 October.
Digital Sequence Information, or DSI, is genetic information from nature that researchers can access through online databases.
This data can be used without handling the original specimen, unlike the biological materials that older access rules were designed to cover.
In 2022, countries agreed to create a system for sharing benefits from DSI, and in 2024 they established the Cali Fund for commercial contributions.
So far, two companies have contributed $6,000 in total, while a London School of Economics estimate says the fund could raise $929 million to $3.6 billion a year from nearly 22,000 eligible companies.
COP17 discussions will address how the system works in practice, including questions about contributions, governance and regulations.
Governments are preparing to debate how to make the Cali Fund work at the UN biodiversity conference COP17 in Armenia.
The fund is intended to channel contributions from companies that benefit commercially from Digital Sequence Information into biodiversity protection.
Digital Sequence Information is genetic information from nature that can be stored in online databases and used without handling the original biological material.
Only two companies had contributed a total of USD 6,000, despite estimates that the fund could generate hundreds of millions to billions of dollars annually.
Questions remain over contributions, governance and fragmented regulations.
- Who
- Governments are debating the system, while companies in sectors including pharmaceuticals, agribusiness and AI may contribute.
- What
- COP17 discussions will address how to put the Cali Fund into practice and share benefits from Digital Sequence Information.
- When
- COP17 is scheduled for 19-30 October 2026.
- Where
- Armenia.
- Why
- Genetic information can be downloaded and used for research and commercial development without handling the original biological material, raising questions about how countries and communities connected to biodiversity should benefit.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Countries agreed to establish a new system to share benefits from Digital Sequence Information.
Countries agreed on how the system would work, creating the Cali Fund.
The Cali Fund was created.
Astrid Schomaker described the fund’s current capitalisation as disappointing at a CBD press conference.
COP17 is scheduled to take place in Armenia.
- Cali Fund contributions
- 1 per cent of annual profits or 0.1 per cent of revenues
- Current contributions
- Two companies had contributed USD 6,000 in total
- Estimated annual potential
- USD 929 million to USD 3.6 billion
- Eligible companies in estimate
- Nearly 22,000
- COP17 location
- Armenia
What people are saying
We also need to build more trust and confidence [among] the [resource] provider countries. This is a rights-based investment instrument and that has to be made clearer through the decisions that we are taking.
The current capitalisation is obviously disappointing. It is, of course, also not surprising [as] this fund is a new instrument. It takes time for the market actors to become familiar with it, but also to trust that this can work,