Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is the principal international treaty on the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the Fair and equitable Access and Benefit-Sharing (FABS) arising from genetic resources. Its Nagoya Protocol establishes access and benefit-sharing rules directly relevant to Cannabis genetic resources (seeds, varieties, landraces) and the traditional knowledge associated with them.

Every Cannabis landrace carries genetic and cultural information shaped over generations by the farmers and communities who cultivated it. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its Nagoya Protocol were designed to answer a simple question with far-reaching consequences: when someone accesses that genetic wealth, who consents, and who benefits? For plants like Cannabis, long excluded from formal recognition by a century of prohibition, this question is critical for traditional custodian communities.

The Cannabis Embassy follows the CBD process as part of its broader work on international law, intellectual property, and biopiracy, and the rights of farmers and Indigenous peoples who have cultivated and safeguarded Cannabis landraces over generations.