Sustainable Development and Biotechnology Regulation: Emerging Challenges for Biodiversity rich countries

Biotechnology has revolutionized all areas of agriculture, healthcare, environmental management and industrial development worldwide. Biotechnology presents a huge potential for sustainable development, but also poses serious concerns on biodiversity conservation, biosafety, ecological imbalance, and equitable access to biological resources. Biodiversity-rich countries are confronted with particular challenges in their regulation, driven by the rising commercialisation of genetic resources and the development of new technologies, including GMOs, synthetic biology and gene-editing. The article analyses the impact of sustainable development on biotechnology regulation, particularly the difficulties of developing countries with rich biodiversity under international environmental governance arrangements. The study uses a doctrinal and analytical approach that is based on analysis of international legal instruments, biosafety regulations, principles of sustainable development and environmental governance mechanisms. The results indicate that the institutional capacity remains poor, biosafety infrastructure is still underdeveloped, regulations are still fragmented and there are conflicts between economic development and environmental protection, which still constitute major challenges for effective biotechnology governance. Another important key aspect of this study is the importance of taking precautionary actions and the necessity of international cooperation and a related regulatory framework for sustainable development of biotechnology and for protecting the interests of the communities and the biodiversity.