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CSD-12: FOCUSING ON SMALL ISLAND STATES, WATER AND SANITATION
CSD-12: FOCUSING ON SMALL ISLAND STATES, WATER AND SANITATION The first three days of the 12th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-12), held from 14-30 April in New York, were dedicated to preparing for the International Meeting (IM) on the Ten-year Review of the Barbados Programme of Action (BPOA +10) for the Sustainable…
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COMMENTARY ON CSD-12
COMMENTARY ON CSD-12 By John Scanlon, Head, Environmental Law Programme, IUCN, and Sebastian Winkler, Senior Policy Officer, IUCN * Over the past few years States have adopted ambitious, yet necessary, targets for improving access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, both through the UN Millennium Declaration and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) Johannesburg…
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AFRICA GMO UPDATE: NIGERIA, GM FOOD AID, BOTSWANA
AFRICA GMO UPDATE: NIGERIA, GM FOOD AID, BOTSWANA A number of recent developments have highlighted the serious challenges that African countries continue to face with regard to the adoption of biotechnology on the continent. While some countries such as Nigeria are spearheading their way into developing this sector, other governments and groups are hesitant. Safety,…
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EU AGRICULTURE TO FACE TIMES OF TRANSITION
EU AGRICULTURE TO FACE TIMES OF TRANSITION The European Environment Agency (EEA) has warned new EU member states about the likely negative environmental impacts of joining the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) in a new report released on 28 April. Meanwhile, EC Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy and Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler circulated a letter to their…
- In Brief
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Bamboo Under Threat from Illegal Trade
According to a recent news release from OneWorld South Asia, 1.7 million tonnes? of raw bamboo, worth US$ 6.4 billion, has been smuggled illegally from India to neighbouring countries Bangladesh and Myanmar over the last few years. From there, the timber is supplied to factories in South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan, Cambodia and Indonesia. The…
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Monsanto Defers Commercialisation of GM Wheat
On 10 May Monsanto, the world’s largest seller of genetically modified (GM) seeds, announced it would defer efforts to commercialise Roundup Ready wheat, a genetically modified crop engineered to tolerate applications of Monsanto’s Roundup (glyphosate) herbicide. According to Monsanto, the marketing of the GM wheat would be on hold “until other wheat biotechnology traits are…
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EU Bans Fish Imports from Five Countries
The EU on 29 April approved sanctions on imports of tuna and swordfish from Bolivia, Cambodia, Georgia, Equatorial New Guinea and Sierra Leone “whose fishing activities undermine international efforts to conserve and manage fish stocks in a sustainable manner”, according to a EU press release. Moreover, the EU is planning to lift import sanctions from…
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Earth Policy Institute Warns of World Food Shortage
According to Lester Brown, President of the Earth Policy Institute, a global food crisis is set to raise world food prices, as grain stocks are depleting to their lowest levels in 30 years. Environmental changes, such as expanding deserts, falling water tables and high temperatures, are affecting harvests in key producing countries, he noted at…
- 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 / IUCN 17 May, Geneva, Switzerland: INTELLECTUAL…
- 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 Marianne Jacobsen. BUILDING ON SUCCESSES IN AFRICAN AGRICULTURE: ARE KENYA’S HORTICULTURAL EXPORTS A REPLICABLE SUCCESS STORY? By Nicholas Minot and Margaret Ngigi. By the International Policy…