Global Digital Sequence Information Levy: Implications for Life Sciences Companies and the Future of Biodiversity Funding

During the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP 16) to be held in Cali, Colombia, from October 21st to November 1st, the 196 countries that are signatories to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) may finalize an agreement introducing a global mechanism to share the benefits derived from the use of Digital Sequence Information (DSI). This mechanism, commonly referred to as the DSI Levy, seeks to secure financial contributions from private companies to support global efforts to conserve biodiversity and restore ecosystems. The rationale behind this initiative is that companies using biological data, such as DNA sequences, protein information, or metabolic profiles, in their product development should share some of the profits with efforts to protect the biodiversity from which this data originates.