Since the Foundation became engaged in helping the world better understand what is in our food, we have recognized the importance of the international debate on digital sequencing information (DSI) and how it relates to biodiversity loss, national environmental resource sovereignty, and international benefits-sharing. A debate which, until a few weeks ago, threatened to upend years of work at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). But what is DSI and how does it impact people and the planet?

DSI is the data derived from biological materials like plants, animals, and even viruses. For example, the data representing the genome of any particular food, like a carrot or an apple, is considered its DSI. Some interpretations of DSI also include chemical constituents and other digital descriptions of biological resources.

Right now, there are trillions of DSI data points available to freely download from a number of databases. Researchers around the world upload DSI to these databases and in turn use the information to develop innovative technologies, foods, and medicines. However, until now, there hasn’t been a clear, multilateral way to share that information while ensuring that the communities from which the source biological material originated also benefit.

Discussions about DSI have been at a standstill since 2019, when the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (the Treaty) Governing Body meeting failed to reach consensus on the issue. Parties to the CBD also could not agree on how to regulate DSI at the international level. Suggested solutions ranged from DSI being entirely out of scope of the CBD, to setting up bilateral benefits-sharing agreements such as the system established by the Nagoya Protocol.

Now, aided by efforts supported by The Rockefeller Foundation Food Initiative, the global community has agreed on a landmark framework on the use of DSI. Access to and benefits-sharing from the use of DSI have been included as an important part of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) which was just adopted at the Convention on Biological Diversity 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15). The GBF sets out targets to halt biodiversity loss, restore ecosystems and protect Indigenous rights between now and 2030.

Read the full article about food data by John de la Parra at The Rockefeller Foundation .