Making the AMAZON book of life’s biological assets visible and valuable
Engineering an Computational Bioeconomy in the Tropics in harmony with its Ecosystems and its Peoples
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Unlocking the economic value of Nature’s biological assets could be worth 40% of Global GDP in the next couple of decades.
Importantly, it could provide a sustainable bio-based economic development path for developing countries anchored on their unique biological assets that is globally competitive.
Our Goals
Opening up the AMAZON book of life to scientists and innovators worldwide for discovery whilst ensuring fair and equitable benefit sharing on invention
The Earth Bank of Codes (EBC) aims to make nature’s biological assets visible and accessible to scientists and innovators around the world, while tackling bio-piracy and ensuring fair and equitable sharing of the commercial benefits that may ensue, in alignment with the Convention of Biodiversity’s Nagoya Protocol.
Significant Challenges to engineer an Inclusive Bio-Economy Revolution
Many of the financial returns arising from Nature’s assets have not been equitably shared to-date with bio-diverse nations because of the following challenges:
Solving for these Complex Challenges: The Earth Bank of Codes
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The urgent need for the amazon bank of codes
The Amazon’s biodiversity is unique and largely unknown
The Amazon Basin is estimated to host 20% of the world’s land-based biodiversity and today we probably have studied 1% of its lifeforms.
EXTREME OSCILLATION at the ecosystem level
Given 6 mega-extreme events in the last 12 years, with probability of occurrence of less than 1/200 years.
Up to 60% of the Amazon may become a degraded savannah
We are fast approaching a scenario of no return with catastrophic consequences for South America and the world at large.
the Amazon Bank of Codes explained
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To address the many practical challenges expected on the ground, the Amazon Bank of Codes will rely on convening Amazonian and international multi-stakeholder collaborations that draw in research & development, start-up, regulatory and ethics communities, along with traditional/ indigenous communities, civil society organizations, governments and the private sector.
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OUR LAUNCH
The partnership between the Earth Bank of Codes, the Earth BioGenome Project and the World Economic Forum was formally launched at the 2018 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos.
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Launch Press
OUR PARTNERS
Partners WEF Press
The Human Genome Project (HGP) was revolutionary in its aspiration in 1988 when the project was first conceived. Today the Earth BioGenome Project (EBP) aims to sequence all the plants, animals and single-celled organisms on Earth (the eukaryotic species) within ten years, to help us unlock the vast potential of our biodiversity inheritance. The EBP has been likened to the Human Genome Project both in its ambition and for the myriad of benefits it hopes to bring to biological research and to the biodiversity, conservation and related bio-industry agendas.
Lewin et al detailed the plans for the Earth BioGenome Project to “Sequence Life for the Future of Life” in a recent PNAS 2018 paper.
Partners EBP Resources
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Two models have historically dominated the realpolitik of national land use decision-making in the Amazon basin regarding the tropical forest. They are:
A push for valuable nature conservation approaches with large swathes of territory legally protected from any economic and human activity outside indigenous peoples;
A push to convert the Amazon Basin’s natural resources to several commodities generating an estimated GDP of USD 250 billion.
Nobre et al called for an Amazon Third Way in the PNAS paper on “Land-use and climate change risks in the Amazon and the need of a novel sustainable development paradigm”. If successful over the next decades, the Amazon Third Way will unleash an Inclusive Bio-Economy that will reward the custodians of Nature, fund conservation efforts and catalyze the development of a local entrepreneurial bio-economy that is globally competitive.
Fast Company Article