At the U.N. COP16 nature summit, member countries will negotiate a deal for the use of genetic information from nature, known as digital sequence information (DSI).
The DSI refers to the digital representation of genetic codes extracted from living organisms.
These genetic sequences are digitized and often uploaded to the public databases where they are stored for any researcher to use.
The COP16 talks will focus on how this digital information is used and do not touch on the actual samples and specimens.
The charge of between 0.1% to 1% on annual revenues in key sectors using DSI could generate between $1 billion and $10 billion annually.