If you have a relevant resource (books, papers, bulletins, etc.) you would like to see announced in this section, please forward a copy or review by the BRIDGES staff to Heike Baumüller. Submissions of publications to ICTSD’s documentation centre would also be welcome (contact Matteo Rizzolli).
LIVING PLANET REPORT 2002. This report is WWF’s periodic update on the state of the world’s ecosystems - as measured by the Living Planet Index - and the human pressures on them through the consumption of renewable natural resources - as measured by the Ecological Footprint. The report concludes that current trends are moving humanity away from achieving minimum requirement for sustainability, not towards it. The global ecological footprint has grown from about 70 percent of the planet’s biological capacity in 1961 to about 120 percent of its biological capacity in 1999. Furthermore, future projections based on likely scenarios of population growth, economic development and technological change, show that humanity’s footprint is likely to grow to about 180 percent to 220 percent of the Earth’s biological capacity by the year 2050. Available at: http://www.panda.org/livingplanet/lpr02/
RECONCILING TRADE IN BIOTECHNOLOGY WITH ENVIRONMENT & DEVELOPMENT? THE CARTAGENA PROTOCOL ON BIOSAFETY. Edited by Bail, C., Falkner, R., and Marquard, H. (2002) London, UK: Published by Earthscan Publishing and Royal Institute of International Affairs. The book analyses the process from which the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety emerged, its key elements and its implications as a means of implementing an international regulatory framework designed to address the growing importance of biosafety the emergence of biotechnology as a global industry presents the world. More information available at: Internet: http://www.earthscan.co.uk/asp/bookdetails.asp?key=3675
Brookes, G. (2002). "Anti GM Crop Sentiment and Policies in the European Union: Some Economic Consequences." CROP BIOTECH BRIEF, Vol. 2, No. 2. Available at http://www.isaaa.org/kc/Services/Media/biotech_briefs/Brief2-2.pdf
"Developing countries and a new round of WTO negotiations," by Thomas W. Hertel, Bernard M. Hoekman & Will Martin in WORLD BANK RESEARCH OBSERVER 17 (2, 2002): 113-140. This article summarises some of the results and findings emerging from an ongoing World Bank research and capacity-building project that focuses on the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiating agenda from a developing country perspective. Recent research suggests that the potential gains from further multilateral liberalisation of trade remain very large. The payoffs associated with attempts to introduce substantive disciplines in the WTO on domestic regulatory regimes are much less certain. This suggests that the focus of current and future negotiations should be primarily on the bread and butter of the multilateral trading system-the progressive liberalisation of barriers to trade in goods and services on a non-discriminatory basis. In addition, priority should be given to ensuring that rules are consistent with the development needs of poorer countries and to helping developing countries implement WTO obligations.
"Market-based conservation and local benefits: the case of argan oil in Morocco," by Travis J. Lybbert, Christopher B. Barrett & Hamid Narjisse in ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS 41 (1, 2002): 125-144. Market-based approaches to biodiversity conservation gained popularity in the 1990s. The success of these strategies hinges on, first, the successful creation or expansion of target markets and, second, the beneficial involvement of local stakeholders in these markets so that improved incentives induce conservation. This paper evaluates these two key elements in the case of argan oil commercialisation in south-western Morocco. The principal finding is that even when locals appear well-positioned to reap ex post benefits, one can reject the hypothesis that successful resource commercialisation necessarily stimulates local development and reduces poverty.
"Rice monoculture and integrated rice-fish farming in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam: economic and ecological considerations," by Hakan Berg in ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS 41 (1, 2002): 95-107. This study is a survey of agriculture practices and pest management strategies among rice and rice-fish farmers in the Mekong Delta. Based on an economic comparison between different farmer categories, it is argued that rice-fish farming provides a sustainable alternative to rice monoculture, if the farmer takes full advantage of the natural productivity of the rice field ecosystem.