| Coming together to save the Earth. Ten years have passed since the Earth Summit in Rio created such passion and expectations. Whether the Convention on Biological Diversity has met those expectations or not vary from person to person.; Evidently, the Convention on Biological Diversity is complex, not only in its language, but also in its attempt to balance between conservation and sustainable use, and between the providers of and benefiters from biological diversity.; Subsequent to its conclusion, the Parties have strived to achieve these objectives. This thesis attempts to assist in this process by exploring the means of implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity and their consequences.; The scope of the thesis is limited to the matters of sovereignty rights and access to genetic resources, in an effort to clear up the uncertainties in the applications of these components. This thesis attempts to contribute a pragmatic perspective to these matters, which, at their core, rely on the crossing points in the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. This thesis focuses on ways to reconcile property rights in genetic resources with patent rights in invention using genetic resources. It proposes one interpretation of property rights in genetic resources so as to avoid any conflict with patent rights and accordingly, avoid conflict between the requirements of the Convention on Biological Diversity and those of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.; I hope that the views and proposals expressed in this thesis will be considered along with other diverse approaches to the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity. |
