The Complementarity Between the Nagoya Protocol and Human Rights - Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities

This book studies the questions of how and to what extent the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) can be interpreted and implemented in light of international human rights law, with a sharpened focus on Indigenous Peoples and local communities. The complementarity thesis is built upon the understanding that ABS and human rights should not and cannot be isolated from one another in order to achieve their respective objectives. A mutually supportive approach to these two bodies of international law is articulated throughout the chapters, covering a wide range of international treaties and 'soft' instruments, as well as the practices of the United Nations, international treaty bodies, courts, other international organizations and sometimes NGOs. Legal researchers, legislators and policymakers, human rights practitioners and indeed anyone interested in the development of a more coherent and integrated system of international ABS framework will find this book helpful, with its succinct coverage of current ABS and human rights laws and practices, their pragmatic implications and possible ways of integration forward.

Xiaoou Zheng is an assistant professor in Public International Law at the School of Law, Xiamen University (China). She obtained her Ph.D at the School of Law in the University of Edinburgh in February 2020. Her doctoral research focuses on the interaction between international biodiversity law and human rights law. She is generally interested in the international environmental law and its increasing interaction with other branches of international law. Previously, she worked part-time on access and benefit-sharing-related issues for the Union for Ethical BioTrade, an international organization based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.