Paul Dunshirn’s research while affiliated with University of Vienna and other places

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Publications (13)


Monetary and Non-monetary Benefit Sharing Under the BBNJ Agreement
  • Chapter
  • Full-text available

February 2025

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4 Reads

Arianna Broggiato

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Paul Dunshirn

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Marcel Jaspars

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Sergio Pena-Neira

This chapter describes and interprets the system for sharing the benefits arising from activities with respect to marine genetic resources (MGR) and digital sequence information (DSI) on MGR of areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) that is being set up by the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction . The chapter provides an overview of discussions and rationales behind the negotiations of this system. It highlights the crucial compromises made to find a creative solution for a de-coupled monetary benefit sharing in the first phase of implementation, and to include digital sequence information in the scope of application and in the operational provisions. It also shows the contribution that the Agreement will make to the harmonisation and further improvement of best scientific practices in disclosing certain data in open access and in involving developing countries’ scientists in the research pipelines. Moreover, the chapter shows how important novelties have been integrated and made legally binding: the deposit of available samples in publicly accessible repositories, thus amplifying access to MGR of ABNJ; and the use of a batch identifier to ensure that samples are linked to materials stored in collections and to the relevant data stored in databases, and that these three elements are retrievable with the use of one single batch identifier. The chapter concludes that several open questions remain, related to modalities for monetary benefit sharing to be decided by the Conference of the Parties, and to the requirement that the monetary benefit-sharing solution related to DSI is mutually supportive of and adaptable to other access and benefit-sharing instruments.

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Monitoring and Transparency Aspects of MGR-Utilization Under the BBNJ Agreement

February 2025

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3 Reads

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8 Citations

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Paul Dunshirn

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Marcel Jaspars

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[...]

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This chapter examines monitoring and transparency aspects in the governance of marine genetic resources (MGR) as outlined in Article 16 of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ). It focuses on the development, negotiation history, and operational dynamics of a monitoring and transparency system which combines notification and reporting processes with digital identifiers to streamline the tracing of MGR utilization. By comparing these new measures with existing international frameworks, the chapter assesses the potential gaps and future policy developments necessary to ensure the effectiveness of the monitoring and transparency mechanism in promoting equitable benefit-sharing and responsible use of MGR.


Marine Genetic Resources and Digital Sequence Information Under the BBNJ Agreement—Interlinkages with Other Access and Benefit-Sharing Frameworks

February 2025

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5 Reads

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9 Citations

The BBNJ Agreement, including its access and benefit-sharing provisions for marine genetic resources and digital sequence information, was negotiated against the backdrop of an existing tapestry of international law. Considerations of potential future interactions with other relevant instruments, frameworks, and bodies have shaped parts of the BBNJ Agreement and such interactions will play an important role in its future successful implementation. This chapter discusses the BBNJ Agreement’s general approach to regime interaction, highlights several instruments, frameworks, and bodies of particular relevance to the BBNJ negotiations and the future implementation of the BBNJ Agreement, and explores concrete scenarios and possible challenges of future regime interactions.


Zooming In on Agreement Making: Tracing the BBNJ Negotiations with the MARIPOLDATA base

November 2024

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19 Reads

Global Environmental Politics

Starting in 2018, the MARIPOLDATAbase has systematically cataloged observations covering the entire Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) negotiations until their conclusion in June 2023. By providing primary data on the whole negotiation process, the MARIPOLDATAbase supports empirical, scholarly work on diverse aspects of international marine biodiversity politics. This research note presents the database, its key features, and how it can be used to trace and map the BBNJ process. Drawing on examples drawn from our own research, we show how we used these data—on actors and alliances, statement length, agreement text, positions, networks, statements, concepts, and meeting formats—to analyze various aspects of agreement making. We note that our database has specific value for researchers who, in the past, struggled to access the BBNJ negotiations as well as for scholars who wish to follow marine biodiversity negotiations in the future. By facilitating the use of primary negotiation data, the MARIPOLDATAbase structure and content support both broad research areas and specific research questions. We conclude by proposing a methodological shift in the study of global environmental negotiations echoing recent attempts to elevate the ethical standards, data quality, political stakes, and critical reflection on the future of global environmental meetings and their role in global environmental politics (GEP) research.


Conducting marine genetic research for whom? Mapping knowledge flows from science to patents

October 2024

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46 Reads

npj Ocean Sustainability

Marine genetic resources hold great value for biotechnological innovation and sustainability-oriented research. However, studies indicate that intellectual property rights pertaining to these resources are concentrated in a handful of companies and countries, triggering contentious international debates. This paper highlights an overlooked dimension: the flow of scientific knowledge in the provision and use of marine genetic research. We identified 23,417 scientific studies that use marine genetic sequences, traced patent references to these studies, and revealed provider and user countries. We found that molecular biological research, oftentimes on bacterial species, attracted the most patenting interest. Some countries owned relatively more patents than they provided in science, with the U.S. benefiting the most from available research. Science by developing countries’ researchers saw limited uptake in patents. These findings aim to inform international biodiversity regimes, such as the UN Treaty on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), on how to more equitably distribute marine genetic resources’ economic, socio-cultural, and ecological benefits.


Patent applications associated with marine species
a, Number of patents that contain sequences associated with species of marine origin only, and patents with species from both marine and mixed origins. b, Number of unique marine and non-marine species referenced in patent applications that include at least one sequence of marine origin. c, Sequence frequency aggregated by species they originate from. Only 16% of all sequences attached to patent applications originate from marine species. The top five species with the highest frequency in each class are indicated. Marine species: (1) C. intestinalis (2.96%), (2) Gadus morhua (1.76%), (3) Anguilla japonica (0.67%), (4) Salmo salar (0.34%) and (5) Oncorhynchus mykiss (0.26%). Non-marine species: (6) Arabidopsis thaliana (4.31%), (7) Zea mays (3.61%), (8) Glycine max (2.87%), (9) Homo sapiens (2.71%) and (10) Oryza sativa (2.60%).
Key actors in marine biotechnology
Applicants that submitted at least 25 nucleotide sequences in their patent claims (81% of all sequences) are shown. Companies that submitted at least 250 sequences are indicated. The size of the dots represents the number of patents submitted by each applicant. The dotted grey line indicates the shortest protein length estimation (150 base pairs). The continuous colour bar indicates the percentage of protein-coding sequences submitted in applicant claims. BASF [DE], BASF; JST [JP], Japan Science and Technology Agency; GENOME ATLANTIC [CA], Genome Atlantic; FRA [JP], Fisheries Research Agency; EW GROUP [DE], EW Group GmbH; UNIVERSITY OF UTAH [US], The University of Utah; YEDA [IL], Yeda Research and Development Company Ltd.; KIOST [KR], The Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology; DU PONT [US], DuPont; OGT [UK], Oxford Gene Technology Ltd.; KHK [JP], Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd.; DSM [NL], DSM N.V.; KANEKA CORP [JP], Kaneka Corporation; GS [AU], Gene Stream Pty Ltd.; GENOMAR [NO], GenoMar.
Patent applications in global marine bioprospecting
a, Share of companies that submitted patents with at least one protein-coding sequence (bioprospecting patents) and patents with non-coding sequences only. b, Top 100 largest patent applicants in marine bioprospecting, aggregated by applicant type. The terms ‘multinational’ and ‘national’ denote the extent of company presence in more than two countries or less, respectively. c, Top 100 largest patent applicants in marine bioprospecting, aggregated by country of origin (the country of headquarters).
Species of interest to marine bioprospecting
a, Species of interest in bioprospecting connected to a company of reference (top 10 largest patent applicants) in patent application grouped by domain and potential presence in ABNJ and deep-sea habitats. AIST, The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology; UC, The University of California. The interactive version of this plot is available at https://mabpat.shinyapps.io/main/. b, Percentage of deep-sea species present exclusively in ABNJ and all species living in the ocean according to WoRMS. Credit: flags in a, flagpedia.net; icons in a, FreePik.com.
Growing prominence of deep-sea life in marine bioprospecting

August 2024

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111 Reads

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3 Citations

Nature Sustainability

Marine bioprospecting, which involves the exploration of genetic and biochemical material from marine organisms, can be used towards addressing a broad range of public and environmental health applications such as disease treatment, diagnostics and bioremediation. Marine genetic resources are important reservoirs for such bioprospecting efforts; however, the extent to which they are used commercially for natural product discovery and the marine sources from which they are derived are not well understood. Here we introduce a comprehensive database of marine genes referenced in patent filings, the Marine Bioprospecting Patent database. It includes 92,550 protein-coding sequences associated with 4,779 patent filings, identified by analysing all relevant records from genetic sequence databases. Three companies alone—BASF, IFF and DuPont—included sequences from 949 species (more than half of referenced species with identified marine origin). Microbial life in the deep sea, a vast and remote biome predominantly beyond national jurisdiction, is already attracting substantial economic interest; the top ten patent holders have all filed marine gene patents referencing sequences from deep-sea life. Our findings provide an updated understanding of the marine bioprospecting landscape, contribute to the sustainable use of marine biodiversity and underscore the need for policymakers to ensure stewardship of deep-sea ecosystems.




Conducting marine genetic research for whom? Mapping knowledge flows from science to patents

November 2023

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58 Reads

Marine genetic resources hold great value for biotechnological innovation and sustainability-oriented research. However, studies indicate that intellectual property rights pertaining to these resources are concentrated in a handful of companies and countries, triggering contentious international debates. This paper highlights an overlooked dimension: scientists and their affiliated countries as central actors in the provision of marine genetic research. We introduce a dataset of 23,417 marine genetic studies and trace patent references to these studies. Our analysis reveals that molecular biological research, oftentimes on bacterial species, attracts the most patenting interest. Some countries own relatively more patents than they provide in science, with the U.S. benefiting the most from available research. Science by G77 researchers has seen limited uptake in patents. These findings aim to inform international biodiversity regimes, such as the UN treaty on Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ), on how to more equitably distribute marine genetic resources’ economic, socio-cultural, and ecological benefits.


Novel database reveals growing prominence of deep-sea life for marine bioprospecting

July 2023

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141 Reads

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2 Citations

Perceptions that marine bioprospecting will deliver vast commercial benefits have placed ‘marine genetic resources’ at the center of key policy processes yet our knowledge about their importance remains limited. Here, we introduce a novel global database of marine gene sequences referenced in patent filings, the MArine Bioprospecting PATent (MABPAT) Database. It includes 25,682 sequences from 1,092 marine species associated with 3,258 patent filings, identified by analyzing all relevant sequencerecords from INSDC. Microbial life in the deep sea, a vast and remote biome predominantly beyond national jurisdiction, is already attracting significant commercial interest; all of the top 10 patent holders have filed marine gene patents referencing sequences from deep-sea life, and only three companies, BASF, IFF, and DuPont, included sequences from nearly two-thirds of all species. Our findings underscore the need for policymakers to ensure stewardship of deep-sea ecosystems while providing the most updated understanding of the marine bioprospecting landscape.


Citations (7)


... As is further discussed in Chap. 11 of this volume (Kachelriess et al., 2025), the BBNJ Agreement was negotiated in the context of existing agreements and frameworks. Article 5.2 states that 'the Agreement shall be interpreted and applied in a manner that does not undermine relevant legal instruments and frameworks and relevant global, regional, subregional and sectoral bodies and that promotes coherence and coordination with those instruments, frameworks and bodies'. ...

Reference:

Considerations Concerning State Ratification of the BBNJ Agreement
Marine Genetic Resources and Digital Sequence Information Under the BBNJ Agreement—Interlinkages with Other Access and Benefit-Sharing Frameworks

... (2)(f) The expected date of first appearance and final departure of the research vessels, or deployment of the equipment and its removal, as appropriate 12 (2) The repository or database where digital sequence information on marine genetic resources is or will be deposited 12(5)(b) Where all marine genetic resources collected in situ are or will be deposited or held 12(5)(c) A report detailing the geographical area from which marine genetic resources were collected, including information on the latitude, longitude, and depth of collection, and, to the extent available, the findings from the activity undertaken 12(5)(d) Any necessary updates to the data management plan 12(6) Identifying information that samples and DSI on MGR in repositories or databases under their jurisdiction can be identified as originating from Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (to the extent practicable) 12 (7) Information on access to MGRs and DSI in repositories, to the extent practicable, and databases for the purpose of the aggregate report to the access and benefit-sharing committee 12 (8) Reporting requirements under the monitoring and transparency mechanism may include information associated with the BBNJ Identifier 7 and 11 of this collection- Langlet et al., 2025. From a monetary benefit perspective, it focuses on aggregate reports to show that X (MGR) and Y (DSI on MGR) came from an activity Z (cruise/autonomous underwater vehicle or AUV) for the purpose of benefit sharing and transparency, rather than tracking and tracing through the pipeline. ...

Monitoring and Transparency Aspects of MGR-Utilization Under the BBNJ Agreement

... However, achieving benefits from marine genetic resources requires economic, scientific and technical capacities to collect and use the necessary materials and data 17 . At present, these capacities are highly unequally distributed at the global level [18][19][20][21][22][23] . Capacities to conduct marine biological research, measured in terms of publication output, are dominated by developed countries [22][23][24] . ...

Growing prominence of deep-sea life in marine bioprospecting

Nature Sustainability

... The vast majority of marine genetic sequences used for innovation and discovery are freely available in online databases, the largest of which is the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration that supports deposition of sequences submitted by national patent offices 12,13 . To date, over 40,000 bioactive compounds derived from marine organisms have been identified and around 7000 are in usage or under validation 6,14 . ...

Novel database reveals growing prominence of deep-sea life for marine bioprospecting

... In many cases, the environmental impacts of sample collection are relatively minimal, but in some cases, collection activities may invoke the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) processes under Part IV depending on the species, area and activity in question. For example, most species associated with marine biotechnology have not been assessed for their vulnerability status by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) (Blasiak et al., 2023) and protected species or those from sensitive areas such as hydrothermal vents might attract EIA obligations under the BBNJ Agreement after its entry into force. ...

Making marine biotechnology work for people and nature

Nature Ecology & Evolution

... We were observing proceedings related to the so-called 'Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) treaty'-a legally binding instrument for the sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) that was meant to fill legal gaps in the Law of the Sea (see Fig. 1 ). Our collective observation of how over one hundred governments negotiated the future of marine life in the multilateral setting of environmental diplomacy offered windows into the meanings attributed to marine biodiversity monitoring and research both by state and non-state actors (Tessnow-von Wysocki and Vadrot 2020 , Vadrot 2020, Langlet et al. 2022. We analysed the struggle over scientific concepts such as 'ecological connectivity' (Tessnow-von Wysocki and Vadrot 2022 ) and legal concepts such as the 'common heritage of humankind' (Vadrot et al. 2021 ) in order to better understand the interests and values of actors in relation to marine biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. ...

A matter of time: the impacts of Covid-19 on marine biodiversity negotiations
  • Citing Article
  • January 2023

Négociations

... Even though nationstates are not the immediate producers or users of knowledge flows, they can nevertheless be understood as actors themselves as they regulate, fund and benefit from national science and innovation systems 61 . Furthermore, they establish the conditions for accessing and using genetic resources within their jurisdiction and are entangled with the interests of affiliated companies and scientists 62,63 . ...

Towards a reflexive, policy-relevant and engaged ocean science for the UN decade: A social science research agenda

Earth System Governance