Bridges Trade BioRes

Volume 5 • Number 2 4th February 2005

  • CLIMATE CHANGE CREEPS UP AGENDA IN LEAD-UP TO G8 SUMMIT
    CLIMATE CHANGE CREEPS UP AGENDA IN LEAD-UP TO G8 SUMMIT With the Kyoto Protocol’s entry into force around the corner, a recent UK conference brought the spotlight onto climate change issues. The conference, entitled "Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change", was held from 1-3 February at the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research in Exeter as…
  • TWO 'WORLD FORUMS', TWO WORLD VIEWS
    TWO ‘WORLD FORUMS’, TWO WORLD VIEWS The World Economic Forum (WEF) convened in Davos, Switzerland, from 26-30 January to provide a "collaborative framework for the world’s leaders to address global issues, engaging particularly its corporate members in global citizenship". On the other side of the globe, the World Social Forum (WSF), gathered in Porto Alegre,…
  • GMO UPDATE: ANGOLA, GM RICE IN CHINA
    GMO UPDATE: ANGOLA, GM RICE IN CHINA Angola implements ban on GM seeds The Angolan Cabinet Council published a decree on 21 January banning imports of genetically modified (GM) seeds or grains except for food aid. The decree implements a decision announced in early 2004 (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 4 April 2004), specifying the rules…
  • In Brief
  • Paris Meeting Highlights Poverty-Biodiversity Link
    Scientists, government officials and civil society groups from around the world meeting in Paris on 24-28 January warned that any effort to alleviate poverty would be undermined unless the alarming rate of biodiversity loss was reduced. While noting that sufficient information was already available to justify immediate action, they also stressed the need to fill…
  • EU Banana Proposal Meets Latin American Resistance
    Banana exporting nations in Latin America issued a joint statement on 3 February criticising the EU’s plan to impose a duty of 230 euros (US $290) per tonne of bananas starting 1 January 2006. The plan is part of an effort to move from the trading block’s contentious first come - first served import system…
  • European Commission Proposed Mercury Ban
    The European Commission proposed a comprehensive strategy on 31 January to prevent mercury pollution that includes instituting a ban on mercury exports by 2011. The proposal, which needs to be approved by the European Parliament and Council before going into effect, also seeks to limit emissions, curb marketing of mercury thermometers, ensure safe storage of…
  • Megadiverse Countries Call for Legally Binding ABS Regime
    From 17-21 January, seventeen of the world’s most biodiverse countries met in New Delhi to develop a common position on how to ensure fair and equitable access to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 11 December 2002). The five-day meeting of the so-called Group of Like-minded Megadiverse Countries (LMMC) resulted in…
  • Events
  • 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. Coming up in the next two weeks 7-8 February,…
  • Resources
  • 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. THE LIMITS TO GROWTH: THE 30 YEAR UPDATE. By Donella H. Meadows, Jorgen Randers and Dennis L. Meadows, November 2004. In 1972, This substantially…