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Trade Leaders Call for Fisheries Subsidies Reform
Key trade officials marked the occasion of the first World Oceans day by calling for reform of global fisheries subsidies. Pascal Lamy, director-general of the WTO, and US Trade Representative Ron Kirk released separate statements recognising both the threat of overfishing and the role that subsidies play in contributing to the problem. Lamy stressed that the…
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Slow-Moving Climate Talks Conclude in Bonn
Despite the looming December deadline, observers say negotiations at the latest round of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bonn, Germany continued to progress at a snail’s pace. The lack of commitments from countries - with little more than six months left before Parties are expected to outline a successor to the Kyoto…
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Carbon Market Prepares for Ukraine Deal
The Ukraine government recently announced its intention to sell US$3.5 billion worth of carbon credits, known as Assigned Amount Units (AAUs), to buyers in Japan, Switzerland, and New Zealand. If completed, the sales would represent the biggest such transactions to date. AAUs are one of three measurements established by the Kyoto Protocol (KP) for quantifying greenhouse…
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Changes in Brazilian Environmental Law Raise Ire of Minister, Activists
Environmentalists in Brazil are lashing out at the government’s move to force two controversial environment-related amendments through congress. Green groups say the ‘provisory measures’ (PMs) - legal acts that allow the president to enact laws without congressional approval - signify a step backwards in environmental preservation achievements that have been accomplished in recent decades.…
- In Brief
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Debate over GM Wheat Ignites Once Again
Farmers associations and environmental groups are rekindling the debate about whether to support research for genetically modified (GM) wheat. A group of nine wheat organisations in the US, Canada, and Australia - the world’s largest wheat exporters - issued a statement on 15 May calling for “the synchronized introduction of biotech wheat.” Two weeks later,…
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China’s Wind Turbine Bidding Process Unfair, Say Foreign Firms
Foreign manufacturers say they are being unfairly excluded from competing for state renewable energy projects resulting from China’s economic stimulus package. But Beijing says because purchases for state investment projects count as government procurement, priority must be given to domestic products unless such a purchase is commercially unviable. Joerg Wuttke, president of the European Union…
- Events
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Events
Coming up in the next two weeks (12-26 June) 12 June, Basel, Switzerland. FOREST MOVEMENT EUROPE MEETING 2009. Organised by the Bruno Manser Fund and the Forests and the European Union Resources Network (FERN), this conference will address issues of forests and climate. Other sessions will deal with the European Union’s measures against illegal logging, the…
- Resources
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Resources
MANAGING CHEMICALS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. United Nations Development Programme, April 2009. This publication highlights the UN Development Programme’s role as a facilitator of sound chemicals management for sustainable development. It focuses on the work that UNDP, with support from different trust funds and donors, is undertaking in concert with partner countries to meet the aims…