Mr Sam Johnston is Programme Officer for Financial Resources and Instruments at the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and Senior Research Fellow at the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies.
Mr Johnston obtained his B.Sc. in 1985, his LL.B. in 1987 and his LL.M in Public International Law in 1991. He was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria (Australia) in 1988.
Mr Johnston’s research interests lie in the science, policy and law of biodiversity, the law of international organisations, international environmental law, international regulation of biotechnology, and the Antarctica Treaty System. He has published extensively on these topics. He co-authored Handbook of the Convention on Biological Diversity (with Ruth Mackenzie and Martin Jenkins) and Global Environmental Problems and International Environmental Agreements: the Economics of International Institution Building (with T Swanson). His latest articles include The International Regime for Bioprospecting: Existing Policies and Emerging Issues for Antarctica (with D Lohan, UNU/IAS, Aug 2003), Biodiversity Access and Benefit-Sharing Policies for Protected Areas: An Introduction (with S Laird, R Wynberg, E Lisinge and D Lohan, UNU/IAS, Sept 2003) and Options for Developing Measures in User Countries to Implement the Access and Benefit Sharing Provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity (with C Barber and B Tobin, UNU/IAS, Mar 2003). He has also published numerous reports, including the Concept Paper on Financial Mechanisms for the Like Minded Megadiverse Countries Group (document 2, Meeting of the Like Minded Megadiverse Countries Group, June 2003) and Background Note on the Benefits that Protected Areas Provide People (Vth World Parks Congress, September 2003).
Mr Johnston has participated in various academic and diplomatic conferences, such as the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the Vth World Parks Congress, XIX International Congress of Genetics, UN General Assembly, the World Trade Organisation’s Ministerial Conference and the Global Environment Facility’s Participants Assembly. He has also worked with various public and private institutions, including UNCTAD, the Government of Madagascar, the European Commission, the UK Government, IUCN, UNEP - World Conservation Monitoring Centre, the Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development (FIELD), Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment (CSERGE), the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), CEMAS (Denmark) and WWF (UK and International).