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WCC3: CONSERVATIONISTS TO MAKE TRADE WORK FOR BIODIVERSITY
WCC3: CONSERVATIONISTS TO MAKE TRADE WORK FOR BIODIVERSITY More than 4,800 participants in the 3rd IUCN World Conservation Congress met from 17-25 November in Bangkok, Thailand to re-think and re-focus biodiversity conservation efforts. In relation to trade, resolutions called for a rights-based approach to conservation, the promotion of food sovereignty and the protection of water…
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COMMENTARY ON WCC3
COMMENTARY ON WCC3 By Dr. William Jackson, IUCN Director Global Programme Does trade have a role in a World Conservation Congress? Yes, it does - and increasingly so. When more than 4,800 participants assembled in Bangkok last week for the world’s largest democratic environmental meeting, one main message emerged from the more than 600 events,…
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AGRICULTURE UPDATE: WTO TALKS INCH FORWARD, EU SUGAR REFORM DELAYED
AGRICULTURE UPDATE: WTO TALKS INCH FORWARD, EU SUGAR REFORM DELAYED From 15-19 November, WTO delegates engaged in intense negotiations on agriculture. The talks comprised the second "agriculture week" after the July Package agreement for moving the Doha Round forward (WT/L/579) and focused on technical issues. Discussions on the Green Box subsidies (subsidies that do not…
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TRIPS COUNCIL PICKS UP SPEED WHILE FOCUSING ON PRIOR INFORMED CONSENT
TRIPS COUNCIL PICKS UP SPEED WHILE FOCUSING ON PRIOR INFORMED CONSENT At the Council for Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) on 1 - 2 December, an attempt was made to move substantive debate forward on the relationship between the TRIPS Agreement, biodiversity issues and traditional knowledge with a new proposal (IP/C/W/438) submitted by…
- In Brief
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European Parliament Calls for Aviation to be Included in Kyoto
The European Parliament presented a resolution this week calling for the inclusion of aviation and shipping within the Kyoto Protocol. The Parliament has urged the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, to bring up the so-called “wish list” at the Tenth Climate Conference on Global Warming (COP-10) being held on 6-17 December…
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Crafting of Process of Plant Genetic Resource Treaty Begins
The second session of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA), acting as the Interim Committee for the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGR), convened from 15-19 November in Rome, Italy. The session, which focused primarily on procedural issues, agreed to set up two groups to prepare…
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Ozone Meeting Approves Limited Use of Methyl Bromide
Meeting in Prague from 22-26 November, parties to the Montreal Protocol on ozone-depleting substances were unable to agree on exemptions to a ban on methyl bromide. The US and other developed countries sought exemptions from the full phase-out of this ozone-depleting pesticide and fumigant, originally set for 2005, citing “critical use” needs. Methyl bromide is…
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Simpler Cost-Sharing REACH Proposal Meets Support
At a meeting of the EU Competitiveness Council on 26 November a majority of EU Member States supported a “one substance, one registration” proposal that would share the costs of registering chemical substances in the EU. The proposal from Hungary and the UK seeks to address concerns that the proposed EU system of Registration, Evaluation…
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EC Tries to Pressure Member States to Lift GM Ban
The European Commission attempted to pressure Austria, France, Germany, Greece, and Luxembourg to repeal their national bans on specific genetically modified (GM) foods at a regulatory committee meeting on November 29 but failed to make a formal decision. Since the committee failed to reach the qualified majority required for the adoption of the Commission’s draft…
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New Report Stresses Environment, Poverty Linkages
On 1 December the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) released its latest report, entitled “World in Transition: Fighting Poverty through Environmental Policy”, to German ministers and the general public. The report says that successful environmental protection is a prerequisite for effective poverty eradication, suggesting that the prospects for developing countries “will…
- Events
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Events
For a more comprehensive list of events in trade and sustainable development, please refer to ICTSD’s web calendar. Please bear in mind that dates and times of WTO meetings are often changed, and that the WTO does not always announce the important informal meetings of the different bodies. ICTSD Event 14 December, Buenos Aires, Argentina: TRADE IMPLICATIONS…
- Resources
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Resources
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. DOWN ON THE FARM: THE IMPACT OF NANO-SCALE TECHNOLOGIES ON FOOD AND AGRICULTURE. (ETC Group, 23 November 2004). The Erosion, Technology and Concentration Group,…