The document stated that at least one of the co-chairs will be selected from a developing country, taking into account gender balance.

“This decision recognizes the value of the traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples, people of African descent and local communities, and closes the 26-year historical debt in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD),” said Susana Muhamad, Colombia’s environment minister and COP16 president, shortly after the announcement. He shared a post on the social media platform X.

Who owns nature’s DNA was one of the most controversial and hotly debated issues at the summit; Tensions have escalated between poor and developed countries over digital sequence information on genetic resources (DSI).

But negotiators agreed Saturday morning that large companies should share the benefits when using resources derived from animals, plants or microorganisms in biotechnology.

”Many of the life-saving medicines we use today come from rainforests. Therefore, it is right that part of the revenues companies earn from this information should go towards protecting nature,” said Toerris Jaeger, managing director of Rainforest Foundation Norway. ”This is definitely the highlight of COP16.”

The delegations agreed on a genetic information fee of 0.1% of the revenues companies receive from products derived from such information. This money will be directed to a new fund, 50% of which will reach Indigenous communities.