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Trade Issues Step to the Forefront of Climate Negotiations
Recent discussions during informal UN negotiations toward a new climate deal, set to conclude in Copenhagen this December, highlighted the importance of economic and trade issues for resolving the climate crisis. Countries met from 10-14 August in Bonn, Germany to advance negotiation discussions in both the Kyoto Protocol (KP) and the Long-term Cooperative Action (LCA) working…
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Australian Senate Blocks Cap-and-Trade, Approves Renewable Energy
A majority of Australian senators have voted down a plan to implement a landmark emissions trading scheme that would have issued permits to the country’s 1,000 top polluters producing three-quarters of national emissions. The 13 August vote on the Labor Party’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, or CPRS, was rejected by a vote of 42 to 30.…
- In Brief
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Asia Faces Increased Reliance on Food Imports without Water Reform: Report
Developing countries in Asia could have to import more than a quarter of the rice, wheat and maize needed to feed their populations by 2050, a new report by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the Food and Agricultural Organization says. According to the report, entitled ‘Revitalizing Asia’s Irrigation: To sustainably meet tomorrow’s food needs’,…
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EU-Malaysia VPA Could be Ratified by Year’s End
The European Commission’s representative in Malaysia says a Voluntary Partnership Agreement between the two trading partners is in its final stage of negotiation and that the Agreement could be signed in the next four months. “The plan aims to eliminate imports of illegally-harvested timber and timber products into the EU and support progress towards sustainable forest…
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Sustainable Palm Producers Fear Plummeting Demand
Less demand for premium products, resulting from the economic crisis, is having a devastating effect on the sustainable palm oil industry. Vengeta Rao, secretary general of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), says that recent estimates show the premium paid for sustainable certified palm oil has fallen to $10-15 a metric tonne - down…
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Chinese Fish Traceability Not Thorough Enough for New EU Rules: WWF
China must further improve the traceability of its fisheries and fish processing industry if it wants to meet the forthcoming EU regulations aimed at combating illegal fishing, according to new a study by TRAFFIC, the WWF’s wildlife trade-monitoring network. The report - funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and Department for Environment, Food…
- Events
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Events
For a more comprehensive list of events for the trade and environment community visit the BioRes online calendar, http://ictsd.net/news/biores/events/. Coming up in the next two weeks (21 August - 4 September) 23 August, Nairobi, Kenya. SECOND WORLD CONGRESS ON AGROFORESTRY. This event - organised by ICRAF-The World Agroforestry Centre, in collaboration with UNEP and the Institute…
- 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 for review by the Bridges staff to Andrew Aziz at aaziz@ictsd.ch. CLIMATE AND TRADE POLICIES IN A POST 2012 WORLD. UNEP and ADAM project. June 2009. This publication is a collection of short…