United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
30 Years supporting advancing multilateral rules for the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of biological diversity
By Dr. Viviana Munoz Tellez
South Centre 30th Anniversary Series No. 1, 7 January 2026
Countries are bound through international agreements to advance biodiversity conservation, including by maintaining genetic diversity, to ensure sustainable use of biodiversity and advance both access and fair and equitable sharing of benefits from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. These obligations are also reasserted in the United Nations (UN) agreed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
There are several international agreements in which these issues are addressed, including the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA Treaty), the Agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), as well as fora where these issues are debated or negotiated, such as those conducted under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The South Centre has provided constant support over the years to developing countries in advancing their common interests in this field and ensuring coherence and synergies among the different conventions and negotiations.
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Catalyzing Policy Action to Address Antimicrobial Resistance: Next Steps for Global Governance
By Anthony D. So
The United Nations General Assembly has taken up Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) twice in the past decade, but the follow-through on commitments and financing of both Global and National Action Plans on AMR have lagged considerably behind the policymaker pronouncements. The need to update the intersectoral approach to the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance requires urgent attention if measurable progress is to be made in tackling this One Health challenge. This paper identifies where progress must pick up and outlines how intersectoral action might catalyze needed next steps.
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Increasing ecocides: On the need for a new global platform for redress
By Dr S Faizi
Dr S Faizi argues that the community of nations should criminalise ecocide and create a mechanism to prosecute the culprits. This should be done by establishing an Environmental Security Council as a democratic, independent multilateral body, and by no means by overburdening the International Criminal Court (ICC) with this new agenda when ICC itself is in dire need of strengthening to enforce its original mandate.
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Webinar: Advancing the One Health response to Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)
Jointly organized by the South Centre, FAO and UNEP
11 January 2021 14:00 – 16:00 CET
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Antimicrobial Resistance: Examining the Environment as Part of the One Health Approach
By Mirza Alas
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a serious issue that is threatening the medical and agricultural advances of today. The connections that exist among human health, food production and the environment necessitate a One Health approach to address the challenge of AMR. Recent research points to the environment as an essential factor in the spread of AMR, as well as a possible reservoir of antimicrobial resistant bacteria and genes. The process, however, of the environmental transmission of resistance genes, along with their effects and how to mitigate them, is still being examined. As new research emerges, so to have new challenges regarding the selective pressure of antibiotics on the environment. AMR in the environment is not new, with resistance genes found even in isolated places (e.g. in permafrost or volcanoes) but understanding this natural process and its implications for tackling AMR continue to pose many questions. This paper aims to examine some of the emerging research on AMR from a One Health perspective and in particular to highlight the role of the environment. It will explore the use of antibiotics and their effects in different ecosystems, as well as the challenges they pose for developing countries: in particular, in designing policies to address antimicrobial resistance that take into account the connections among humans, animals and the environment.
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