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Cutting subsidies to save the fish
Oceana, a campaign group seeking to protect and enhance the world’s oceans, visited Geneva in October to stimulate discussion on subsidies and sustainability. Oceana chief scientist Michael Hirshfield and board member and ‘Cheers’ star Ted Danson visited ICTSD, and answered some questions regarding their vision for a successful WTO fisheries subsidies agreement. BioRes: To set the…
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Banana and pineapple exports from Ecuador
Developing countries face various sanitary standards and other requirements when exporting agricultural products to developed country markets. These standards often have different impacts on large, small and medium-sized farms. This article explores the impact of non-tariff requirements that Ecuadorian banana and pineapple farmers and exporters face in their major export markets. As such, it contributes…
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A Doha round deliverable for climate change?
The Doha round negotiations are proving to be divisive, drawn-out and complicated, with trade delegations expending much of their energy on high profile issues such as agriculture and industrial market access. However, also on the agenda is an area potentially of great interest to climate change negotiators: talks aimed at freeing up trade in environmental…
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Patenting and access to clean energy technologies in developing countries
For the world to make the transition to a low-carbon economy, renewable energy technologies have to be made available globally at an unprecedented scale. One option often flagged is here allowing flexibilities in the intellectual property (IP) system to facilitate the spread of renewable technologies in developing countries. This article explores whether IP is the…
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Food miles debate carries on
The bulk of internationally traded goods are transported by water, roads and rail – aviation, however, also plays an important and growing role. While consumers have become increasingly concerned about the ‘carbon footprint’ of the food they eat, the export of fresh produce based on air freighting provides some of the poorest and most vulnerable…
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Environmental groups target shipping emissions
The shipping industry’s greenhouse gas emissions have been off the public’s radar screen, and apart from a small group of experts, they have been ignored even by most of the climate and trade communities. This seems about to change. US groups take action On 3 October, the California Attorney General Jerry Brown and a coalition of environmental…
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Climate and equity impacts of global trade
The steadily growing volume of global trade is forcing policymakers to start taking a hard look at its climate impact, while keeping equity and development issues as top priority. The carbon footprints of traded goods, the potential for carbon leakage between countries with stringent versus lax climate regulations, the impact of global transport itself –…
- In Brief
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The aviation sector
The aviation sector contributes around two percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. However, when indirect effects from other pollutants as well as cloud formation are added, aviation contributes up to nine percent of radiative forcing, or global warming effect. Aviation is also one of the fastest-growing sectors. Emissions have doubled since 1990 and are projected…
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Acrimony at aviation meeting
At the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Assembly in September, the EU and US clashed over the legality of including international aviation in the European emissions trading scheme. The EU has set up the scheme as one of its main measures to reach its commitment reductions under the Kyoto Protocol. The scheme currently covers industry, with…