Senior Researcher suspicious of biodiversity protocol | General News 2010-07-16

"A Senior Researcher at the International Institute for Environment and Development, has observed that the new global agreement intended to protect the biodiversity of developing nations from unfair exploitation could do more harm than good. Professor Krystyna Swiderska...said for instance the industrialised countries do not want the protocol to cover traditional knowledge that is already in the public domain. "This would enable companies to freely access this knowledge without the need for consent or sharing of benefits that would arise from its use," she added. Prof Swiderska said: "Industrialised countries are placing the interest of private companies ahead of the interests of the global public good." ..."