SCELG Anniversary Colloquium

On 4 May 2022, the University of Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance (SCELG) held its X Anniversary Colloquium. SCELG members shared theoretical and practical insights reflecting on the
following question: 2022 marks 50 years from Stockholm and 30 years from Rio. How will global environmental law and governance be shaped and developed over the next 30/50 years?
I was invited to participate in a session on “Regulation and innovation: trends and challenges in environmental law and governance” and presented on the case of synthetic biology. The event featured fascinating discussions on different aspects and the future of global environmental law.

My presentation
The Colloquium’s programme

Images from Glasgow

2021 Bratislava Conference on Earth System Governance

Held from 7-9 September 2021, in Bratislava, Slovakia, and online, the Earth System Governance conference was held under theme “Earth System Governance in turbulent times: prospects for political and behavioral responses.” A meeting point of the sustainability community, it offered a range of sessions on different aspects of environmental governance. My presentation on “Building an integrative framework for the fair and responsible governance of synthetic biology” gave an overview of the methodology, structure, research questions, and inspiration behind the SynBioGov project.

Frison C and Tsioumani E “Access and Benefit Sharing and Digital Sequence Information: Unravelling the Knot” in Lawson C., Rourke M and Humphries F (eds) Access and Benefit Sharing of Genetic Resources, Information and Traditional Knowledge, Routledge 2022, 122-138

This chapter unpacks the governance challenges related to digital sequence information (DSI) on genetic resources. We first provide the context of the debate, highlighting relevant technological developments and the regime complex regarding access and benefit-sharing (ABS), intellectual property rights, and data governance. We then analyze a series of normative issues regarding both ABS frameworks specifically and the legal and policy framework governing the production of scientific knowledge and the human right to benefit from scientific progress more generally. We draw attention to the range of legal interpretations put forward, and present legal arguments towards a teleological interpretation to support a benefit-sharing requirement from DSI use, further discussing questions regarding calls for open access to DSI in the context of global inequities. We conclude that the DSI impasse can only be resolved by acknowledging the deep roots of the conflict in the imbalances resulting from colonial history.

The chapter is part of a book offering a new assessment of the contemporary ABS regime, drawing together a range of interdisciplinary perspectives from international scholars.

Read the chapter on Zenodo
Book table of contents

Rabitz F, Reynolds J, Tsioumani E “Emerging technologies in biodiversity governance: gaps and opportunities for action” in Visseren-Hamakers I and Kok M (eds) Transforming Biodiversity Governance, Cambridge University Press 2022, 137-154 (open access)

Emerging technologies potentially have far-reaching impacts on the conservation, as well as the sustainable and equitable use, of biodiversity. Simultaneously, biodiversity itself increasingly serves as an input or source material for novel technological applications. In this chapter, we assess the relationship between the regime of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the governance of three sets of emerging technologies: geoengineering, synthetic biology and gene drives, as well as bioinformatics, addressed in debates on digital sequence information on genetic resources. While the linkages between biodiversity and technology go beyond these cases, we focus on technologies that have been subject to extensive debate and rule-making activity under the CBD.

The chapter is part of a timely, open access book, which argues that transformative biodiversity governance means prioritizing ecocentric, compassionate and just sustainable development. This involves implementing five governance approaches – integrative, inclusive, adaptive, transdisciplinary and anticipatory governance – in conjunction and focused on the underlying causes of biodiversity loss.

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Download the book

Kok M, Tsioumani E, Bliss C, Immovilli M, Keune H, Morgera E, Rüegg S, Schapper A, Vijge M, Zinngrebe Y, Visseren-Hamakers I “Enabling transformative biodiversity governance in the post-2020 era” in Visseren-Hamakers I and Kok M (eds) Transforming Biodiversity Governance, Cambridge University Press 2022, 341-360 (open access)

Part of the same book, this chapter offers strategic reflections on key questions related to transformative biodiversity governance. It summarize some of the insights from the various chapters regarding the operationalization of the main concepts of the book; and highlights challenges and opportunities for transformative governance presented by the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity, arguing that the GBF should not only be transformative but also be governed transformatively.

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Download the book