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Poznan Meets Low Expectations
Ministers from 189 countries wrapped up climate change discussions in the early morning hours of 13 December having made unexpected progress on the terms of the UN Adaptation Fund and marginal movement towards an agreement on technology transfer. Nevertheless, many observers have criticised the meeting for yielding exactly what was expected going in: very little. As…
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Europe Closes Deal on Climate Change
European leaders have clinched an energy-climate deal as a part of their attempts to be a global leader on the issue. French President Nicholas Sarkozy ushered in the agreement - at the 12 December high-level meeting targeting climate change and the financial crises - as one of his final feats during the six-month French EU…
- In Brief
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Shipping Noise Disrupting Marine Mammals
Marine mammals are suffering severe negative consequences due to ever-increasing noise pollution in the seas, according to experts. Among the sources of noise that are being blamed are the rising numbers of marine vessels that carry goods around the globe - as well as the increasing speeds they travel at. The International Federation of Animal Welfare…
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Rainforest Conversion for Biofuels Production Bad for Environment: Report
Clearing rainforests to plant crops for biofuels production would be worse for climate change and biodiversity than preserving the existing ecosystem, a new study says. The report, which appears in the academic journal Conservation Biology, says that it would be as long as 75 to 93 years before any benefits to the climate could be…
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EU Approves Imports of GM Soybean
The EU has given a green light to imports of a genetically modified soybean made by US-based agriculture giant Monsanto, the European Commission announced on 4 December. Imports of the soybean, which is designed to resist Monsanto’s glyphosate herbicides, will be used for animal feed, not human consumption. The soybean is the latest in a string of…
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IP Issues Inch Forward as TRIPS Council Meets
Delegates made progress on intellectual property issues at a TRIPS Council meeting on 5 December, narrowing but not eliminating differences that, if unresolved, risk scuppering the agreement of a global trade deal at the WTO. This was “a significantly better discussion than yesterday” the chair of the talks, Trevor Clarke of Barbados, said, comparing the session…
- Events
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Events
Upcoming Events 14-18 December, Cairo, Egypt. CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP FOR THE ARAB STATES ON NATIONAL BIODIVERSITY STRATEGIES AND ACTION PLANS (NBSAP), AND THE MAINSTREAMING OF BIODIVERSITY. This Convention on Biological Diversity workshop will look at, inter alia, national strategies, action plans, mainstreaming, strategy enhancement and sectoral and cross-sectoral action plans and integration…
- Resources
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Resources
THE IMPLEMENTATION GAME: THE TRIPS AGREEMENT AND THE GLOBAL POLITICS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY REFORM IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. Carolyn Deere, Global Economic Governance Programme, University College, Oxford University. Oxford University Press. This publication is the first book-length study of the politics surrounding the implementation of the WTO’s Agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property…