India Publishes Insights from First National Report on Nagoya Protocol ABS

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has published insights from India's First National Report on the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing, which was submitted to the Convention on Biological Diversity secretariat on February 27, 2026. The insights include 12 case studies of successful ABS implementation and aim to strengthen institutional coordination and stakeholder awareness.

The Nagoya Protocol, which pertains to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted in 1992, establishes an international framework for ensuring that benefits arising from the use of genetic resources are shared equitably with the countries and communities that conserve them. India ratified the protocol and enacted the Biological Diversity Act to implement its obligations domestically. The first national report represents India's first formal accounting of how it has implemented ABS arrangements, covering the use of genetic resources from Indian biodiversity in research and commercial applications.

The 12 case studies published alongside the insights include examples from diverse sectors, including traditional knowledge associated with medicinal plants, agricultural genetic resources and marine biodiversity. The ministry acknowledges that the national report itself is technical and difficult for non-specialists to navigate, and the insights publication is intended to make the findings accessible to a wider range of stakeholders including researchers, industry and community organisations. Building awareness of ABS rights and obligations is important as India's bioprospecting sector grows.

The report's release coincides with heightened international focus on biodiversity governance under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. India has significant biodiversity assets and substantial community-held traditional knowledge that represent economic and scientific value if adequately protected. Strengthening ABS implementation — ensuring that benefit-sharing agreements are concluded and royalties flow to biodiversity-rich communities — is both a legal obligation and an instrument for incentivising community-level conservation.

Key figure — 12 ABS case studies, national report submitted February 27, 2026