S2E12: UN fund hopes to cash in on nature's bounty. Is it a game-changer?

UN Cali Fund aims to collect millions, and possibly billions, of
dollars for the conservation of nature and to benefit indigenous
people.   


Synopsis: Every first and third Tuesday of the month, The Straits
Times analyses the beat of the changing environment, from
biodiversity conservation to climate change.


Nature’s bounty is vast and we all benefit from it. Think of the
huge variety of plants and their timber, seeds and fruits – even
the materials from them to make cosmetics. 


The immense variety, the huge number of different species and
traits in nature, comes from genetics. And this has long been an
intangible part of biodiversity, one that is hard to put a price
on. 


But a new fund agreed at UN biodiversity talks at the end of 2024
is set to change this. Called the Cali Fund, the industry is
expected to contribute money for making use of nature.


Companies, such as pharmaceutical and cosmetics firms, will pay
for their use of the genetic resources from nature. Money will
flow based on either a share of profits or turnover. 


But how exactly will this voluntary fund work? And how are these
genetic resources defined and tracked? 


Green Pulse speaks with Dr Siva Thambisetty, an expert in
Intellectual Property Law at the London School of Economics and
Political Science. She was closely involved in the negotiations
for the fund. 


A special thanks to Aruna Chandrasekhar, who helped with research
for this episode. She covers land, food and nature for the Carbon
Brief news site.


Highlights of conversation (click/tap above):


2:53 What is the Cali Fund?


4:16 What is genetic material and digital sequence information
(DSI)?


8:15 “DSI can also accelerate our research for new drugs.”


19:52 What about the risks of rising inequality? For example,
rich companies using free genetic data to create profitable
products?


23:32 How will the fund flow into conservation and to indigenous
groups?


Follow Audrey Tan on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/848W


Read her articles: https://str.sg/JLM2


Follow David Fogarty on X: https://str.sg/JLM6


Read his articles: https://str.sg/JLMu


Hosts: Audrey Tan (audreyt@sph.com.sg) & David Fogarty
(dfogarty@sph.com.sg)


Produced and edited by: Hadyu Rahim


Executive producers: Ernest Luis & Lynda Hong


Follow Green Pulse Podcast here and get notified for new episode
drops:


Channel: https://str.sg/JWaf


Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWaY


Spotify: https://str.sg/JWag


Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg


---


Follow more ST podcast channels:


All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7


ST Podcast website: http://str.sg/stpodcasts


ST Podcasts YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa


---


Get The Straits Times' app, which has a dedicated podcast player
section:


The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB


Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX


---


#greenpulse


See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.