Conceptualizing Benefit-Sharing as the Pursuit of Equity in Addressing Global Environmental Challenges

Abstract

This paper develops a conceptual framework for the analysis of benefit-sharing in light of its gradual development in international law as a basis for more detailed legal analysis (in the areas of international biodiversity, climate change, human rights, oceans, food, agriculture and land law). It teases out the inter-State, intra-State and transnational dimensions of benefit-sharing, with a view to mapping its multiple manifestations, connections among them, and their implications for pursuing equity among and within States in addressing global environmental challenges.

Keywords: benefit-sharing, international environmental law, human rights, law of the sea, equity