Bounded openness: A robust modality of access to genetic resources and the sharing of benefits

SOCIETAL IMPACT STATEMENT: The Fourth Industrial Revolution is underway. Controversy surrounds the choice of modality for access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization, as established in the third objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The modality chosen by the Conference of the Parties should promote conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources, which are the first and second objectives of the convention. “Bounded openness over natural information” achieves all three objectives by aligning incentives between users and Providers. With philanthropic support, the modality can also be applied to unpublished traditional knowledge, which would enhance food security. SUMMARY: Several international agreements have provisions for “access to genetic resources” and “fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from [their] utilization” (ABS). The optimal modality has proven elusive for the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Nagoya Protocol (NP). Such failure need not be so. We embrace reductionism and partition genetic resources into tangible and intangible attributes and classify the latter as natural or artificial information. The economics of information justifies “rents,” which is the difference between what is paid and what would have been paid in a competitive market. Fairness and equity imply protection for natural information equal to that of artificial information. Bilateralism eliminates rents through competition and renders royalties infinitesimal, thus defeating ABS. The proposed Global Multilateral Benefit‐Sharing Mechanism (GMBSM) could capture rents and distribute royalty income proportional to habitat for terrestrial species, and to CO₂ reductions for marine species and wild relatives of crops. Alignment of incentives for conservation would facilitate transition to half‐Earth. Domesticated species require stronger incentives for conservation than do nondomesticated species. The Multilateral System (MLS) of The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) should be expanded. Enclosure of traditional knowledge not yet in public domain through a benefit‐sharing mechanism could incentivize communities to deposit samples into the CGIAR Genebanks and resume seed exchange, which is essential for food security. A robust modality of ABS for the CBD, NP, ITPGRFA and other agreements is “bounded openness.”