By Dr. Kariuki Muigua, PhD (Leading Environmental Law Scholar, Policy Advisor, Natural Resources Lawyer and Dispute Resolution Expert from Kenya), Winner of Kenya’s ADR Practitioner of the Year 2021, ADR Publisher of the Year 2021 and CIArb (Kenya) Lifetime Achievement Award 2021.*
Sustainable development goals (SDGs) set the 2030 agenda to transform the world by tackling multiple challenges humankind is facing to ensure well-being, economic prosperity, and environmental protection, thus providing a holistic and multidimensional view on development. Biodiversity and ecosystems feature prominently across many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and associated targets. They contribute directly to human well-being and development priorities, where biodiversity is at the centre of many economic activities, particularly those related to crop and livestock agriculture, forestry, and fisheries and globally, nearly half of the human population is directly dependent on natural resources for its livelihood, and many of the most vulnerable people depend directly on biodiversity to fulfil their daily subsistence needs.
Regarding SDG 1 on ending poverty in all its forms everywhere, biodiversity provides resources and income, particularly for the rural poor. Ecosystem services and other non- marketed goods make up between 50% and 90% of the total source of livelihoods among poor rural and forest dwelling households. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, under Goal 2, aims to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture: –
By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round; By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment; By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality; By 2020, maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at the national, regional and international levels, and promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, as internationally agreed; increase investment, including through enhanced international cooperation, in rural infrastructure, agricultural research and extension services, technology development and plant and livestock gene banks in order to enhance agricultural productive capacity in developing countries, in particular least developed countries.
The CBD Aichi Target 13 states that countries should ensure: by 2020, the genetic diversity of cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and of wild relatives, including other socioeconomically as well as culturally valuable species, is maintained, and strategies have been developed and implemented for minimizing genetic erosion and safeguarding their genetic diversity. One of the aims of the Programme of Work on Agricultural Biological Diversity is to promote the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of genetic resources. Whilst the CBD refers to the concept of benefit sharing in the context of the use of genetic resources a number of CBD decisions make reference to benefit sharing that is not confined to genetic resources, including CBD Decision VII/11 which refers to “the equitable sharing of benefits derived from the use of biodiversity”. The concept of benefit sharing is linked to traditional knowledge. CBD Decision XIII/15 called for Parties to develop and implement incentives for farmers and indigenous peoples and local communities to protect pollinators and pollinator habitats, for example through benefit-sharing schemes, including payments for pollinator services schemes.
As regards relevant international instruments, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, (ITPGRFA) states that the Contracting Parties should take measures to protect and promote farmers’ rights, including the right to equitably participate in sharing benefits arising from the utilization of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. The Voluntary Principles provide that responsible investment in agriculture and food systems respects traditional knowledge by, among other things, promoting fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources for food and agriculture and that this should be done within applicable systems of access to genetic resources for food and agriculture, while respecting the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities under national law.
In order to achieve SDG 3 on ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages, healthy ecosystems help mitigate the spread and impact of pollution by both sequestering and eliminating certain types of air, water and soil pollution. SDG 5 requires countries to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. The targets therein are, inter alia: ensuring women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life; undertaking reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws; and adopting and strengthen sound policies and enforceable legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls at all levels.
The CBD, in its preamble, recognizes “the vital role that women play in the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity and affirms the need for the full participation of women at all levels of policy-making and implementation for biological diversity conservation.” Healthy ecosystems can go a long way in achieving SDG 6 which seeks to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. Biodiversity and ecosystems underpin many national and global economic activities, including those related to agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture, energy, tourism, transport and trade, and as such, biodiversity conservation and sustainable use can lead to higher productivity, more efficient resource use, and long-term viability of resources thus helping in achievement of SDG 8 which seeks to promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. More importantly, SDG 15 is dedicated to “protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.”
*This article is an extract from the Article “Fostering a Human Rights Approach to Biodiversity Conservation in Kenya” by Dr. Kariuki Muigua, PhD, Kenya’s ADR Practitioner of the Year 2021 (Nairobi Legal Awards), ADR Publisher of the Year 2021 and ADR Lifetime Achievement Award 2021 (CIArb Kenya). Dr. Kariuki Muigua is a foremost Environmental Law and Natural Resources Lawyer and Scholar, Sustainable Development Advocate and Conflict Management Expert in Kenya. Dr. Kariuki Muigua is a Senior Lecturer of Environmental Law and Dispute resolution at the University of Nairobi School of Law and The Center for Advanced Studies in Environmental Law and Policy (CASELAP). He has published numerous books and articles on Environmental Law, Environmental Justice Conflict Management, Alternative Dispute Resolution and Sustainable Development. Dr. Muigua is also a Chartered Arbitrator, an Accredited Mediator, the Africa Trustee of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Managing Partner of Kariuki Muigua & Co. Advocates. Dr. Muigua is recognized among the top 5 leading lawyers and dispute resolution experts in Kenya by the Chambers Global Guide 2022.
References
Muigua, K., “Tracing the Role of Biodiversity Conservation in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals,” Available at: http://kmco.co.ke/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Fostering-a-Human-Rights-Approach-to-Biodiversity-Conservation-in-Kenya-Kariuki-Muigua-November-2021.pdf (accessed 10 May 2022).