Not long ago it became clear that it still prevailed, when all the North's economic, political and diplomatic might was used to quash the just, but naive, Southern call for a fair new international economic order. But the Bank, together with the International Monetary Fund, is responsible for modernizing the old South-North flow of resources. The funding of the Convention on Biological Diversity depends on the North's manifestly non-existent good will. The owners of biological diversity, mostly in the South, are recognized by the Convention as having sovereignty over it. The North is recognized as the owner of biotechnology and finance.
Biological diversity is seen as essential for making biotechnology useful.
Financial resources are seen as flowing from North to South through a fair and equitable sharing of the commercialization of Southern biological diversity, and to help Southern countries fulfil the obligation placed on them by the Convention. The 'biotechnology' that can come from the North is genetic engineering. The view of many molecular biologists is that seed in gene banks that has no unique genes should be destroyed. I cannot see how the genetic engineering generated by those who hold this view can help in biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. The South is obviously on a wild goose chase here.