Since the 1980s, there has been increasing pressure from donors and International Finance Institutions (IFis) – chiefly the IMF and World Bank – for governments to privatize and decentralize state-rum functions. In 2002, the World Bank introduced the Private Sector Development (PSD) Strategy, aiming to advance privatization in health care, education and water. The World … Read More.
On February 7, 2006, a Dispute Settlement Panel at the World Trade Organization (WTO) issued the interim report in the European Communities – Measures affecting the Approval and Marketing of Biotech Products (EC-Biotech) case. In its report, the Panel addressed the various categories of European Communities (EC) and EC Member State measures challenged by the … Read More.
The European Commission (EC) is currently challenging Brazil’s ban on the importation of retreaded tires at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The EC complains that Brazil’s ban is disguised protectionism that violates several GATT disciplines. A WTO Panel was established on 20 January 2006 to examine the case.1 Brazil justifies its import restrictions on the … Read More.
The U.S. Congress is considering legislation to implement an important international environmental treaty that the United States signed in 2001 but has not ratified. Before the Senate can give its “advice and consent” to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), Congress must make modest changes to existing laws that govern pesticides and industrial … Read More.
At its first meeting, the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention requested the Secretariat to conduct a study of possible options for lasting and sustainable financial mechanisms that would enable developing countries to implement the provisions of the Convention adequately. In considering the Secretariat’s report, at its second meeting the Conference of the … Read More.
The relationship between intellectual property (IP) and innovation in the pharmaceutical sector as well as access to essential medicines has been a central issue in the debate on IP and development within and outside of the World Trade Organization (WTO). In this context, there have been, in recent years, a number of high profile events … Read More.
The misappropriation of genetic resources and traditional knowledge – and the forgone benefits derived from their use –continues to elicit serious misgivings among the biodiversity community and indigenous peoples. High-profile cases – such as the neem tree, basmati rice and maca – fuelled calls for a more effective system to prevent such illegal access and … Read More.
In the context of the WTO and its predecessor the GATT, the trade and environment linkage was first made in the early 1970’s. With the increased attention paid to environmental protection in many parts of the world, as reflected in the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, the GATT responded with a focus not … Read More.
This paper provides background information about international chemicals management to participants in the UNEP 7th Global Civil Society Forum (GCSF), including participants in the regional forums leading up to the GCSF. International chemicals management is one of three major topics scheduled to be discussed in Dubai at the 2006 Special Session of the Governing Council/Global … Read More.
Intellectual property-related issues remain fundamental components of the Doha Round of negotiations, especially from the perspective of developing countries. The relationship between the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) andthe Convention for Biological Diversity (CBD), in particular, has been identified as a critical element of any decision in Hong Kong. During … Read More.
During the Second Preparatory Committee (PrepCom2) to develop a Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), Switzerland agreed to undertake intersessional work in identifying principles and approaches of sustainable development and chemicals management that might be incorporated into the SAICM. It was hoped that a limited study would elucidate existing relevant principles and approaches, enhance … Read More.
In November 2001, Trade Ministers meeting at the 4th Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, agreed to launch a new round of WTO trade negotiations. In addition to ongoing negotiations on agriculture and services, Ministers agreed to begin negotiations on a number of issues, including non-agricultural market access (market access for industrial goods). The Doha Declaration … Read More.
The vulnerability of children to harmful environmental conditions is of global concern for several reasons. First, many environmental hazards cross national borders. Toxic chemicals, for example, move in international trade, as does hazardous waste. Polluted water flows from one country into another, as does polluted air. Because these threats are international in scope, they cannot … Read More.
In October 2004, the WIPO Assemblies launched discussions on a WIPO Development Agenda, in a decision considered a watershed in the intellectual property and development debate. Although for several years civil society and developing countries had been raising serious questions regarding the sustainable development implications of the activities being undertaken by WIPO, it was the … Read More.
The Eighth Session of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge, and Folklore (IGC) will be held in Geneva on 6-10 June 2005. The Eighth Session will be the last meeting of the IGC under the mandate established by the WIPO General Assembly in 2003, which … Read More.
At its first session, the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade requested that the Secretariat prepare a study “into the possible options for lasting and sustainable financial mechanisms which will enable developing countries to implement adequately the … Read More.
This report outlines some key features of the international movement to protect human health and the environment and reflects on some parallel developments underway within the United States. By spotlighting state progress on POPs, this report documents Americans’ commitment to accept responsibility for POPs and to step up to the challenge. It also demonstrates how … Read More.
Paragraph 19 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration instructs the Council for Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), in its review of Article 27.3 (b) and Article 71.1 of the TRIPS Agreement, to consider the relationship between the TRIPS Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Work in the TRIPS Council has particularly focused … Read More.
In October 2004, the Assemblies of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) decided to respond positively to the invitation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) for WIPO “to examine, and where appropriate address, taking into account the need to ensure this work is supportive of and does not run counter to the objectives of … Read More.
Copyright, as other intellectual property rights, was designed to promote intellectual creativity by balancing private rights and the public interest. Limited private rights over intellectual creations were thus established to ultimately enrich and disseminate cultural heritage.1 The proper role of copyright, however, stands challenged by increasingly unbalanced rules at the international and national levels. International … Read More.
Eco-labeling, which provides information to consumers about the environmental andsocial impacts of the products and services they buy and use, can be an essential tool for protecting the environment and promoting sustainable development. Carefully designed “green procurement” policies can lead to environmentally and socially sound purchasing decisions by governmental agencies and other entities. When these … Read More.
Only two international human rights regimes are available to bring a complaint against the United States for causing dangerous climate change and violating the rights of the Inuit people: the U.N. Human Rights System and the Inter-American Human Rights System within the Organization of American States (OAS). The OAS system provides a preferable forum for … Read More.
Despite the relevance of issues in its agenda for developing countries, discussions in the Council for TRIPS have been increasingly limited and subdued. In 2004, the run-up to the adoption of the General Council Decision on the Doha Work Program on 1 August 2004 (July Framework) rightly occupied the attention of World Trade Organization (WTO) … Read More.
Nowhere does the Doha Ministerial Declaration declare a “Development Agenda”. The promise of a systemic correction to the multilateral trading system, to make it more relevant to the economies and people of developing countries however, permeates the Declaration. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) in the Declaration expressed its determination to play a full role in … Read More.
Si bien la mayor parte de la Organización Mundial de Comercio (OMC) pasará el invierno analizando el estado de los debates varios y los temas aún por discutir, el Consejo de los Aspectos de los Derechos de Propiedad Intelectual relacionados con el Comercio (ADPIC) ya lleva tiempo analizando un tema que perfila cada vez más … Read More.
An action target is a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emission levels by an agreed percentage which is applied to an observable baseline: actual emissions during the commitment period. An action target could be adopted at any institutional level: firm, industry, municipal, state or national. At the government level, an action target could, for instance, … Read More.
The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), adopted on 3 November 2001, entered into force on 29 June 2004. The treaty, negotiated under the auspices of the FAO, responds to concerns over the increasing privatization and monopolization of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) and the potentially negative … Read More.
In October 2004, the Assemblies of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) decided to respond positively to the invitation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) for WIPO “to examine, and where appropriate address, taking into account the need to ensure that this work is supportive of and does not run counter to the objectives … Read More.
The purpose of this brief is to explain the relationship between the rules developed in the negotiations on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and the rules of international trade by national governments in the late 1990s, to explain why appropriate trade measures can and should be included and why the supremacy clause should be eliminated from … Read More.
In 1998, over 90 governments came together in Montreal to begin negotiations of a global agreement to reduce the environmental and public health threats caused by the global presence of certain ‘persistent organic pollutants’ (POPs). By the year 2000, these negotiators hope to conclude an agreement that will eliminate such chemicals and wastes as dioxin, … Read More.
In the upcoming months, the reservoir of the Ralco dam, one of a series of dams along the Upper BíoBío River in Southern Chile, will destroy the pristine mountain ecosystem and will permanently and irreversibly disrupt the semi-nomadic lifestyle and cosmovision of the Mapuche/Pehuenche people. At the same time, the communities affected by the dam … Read More.
While developing countries have augmented their participation and influence in international discussions on intellectual property, with important attainments as a result, developments at the bilateral and regional levels, threaten to make those efforts, and those accomplishments, increasingly irrelevant. The trend of countries such as the United States turning to bilateral and regional agreements to build … Read More.
Amicus curiae briefs are fundamental in developing balanced and high-quality decisions in the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement system. A Panel is entrusted with conducting an “objective assessment” of the case before it, but as the multilateral trade framework continues to expand and increase its areas of influence, carrying out such an assessment becomes … Read More.
Anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases are changing the earth’s climate in ways that could lead to catastrophe. The United States is the largest emitter of these gases, producing almost one-fourth of worldwide emissions of CO2, the dominant greenhouse gas. Power plants alone account for one-third of total U.S. emissions of … Read More.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) represents the first step of international action to combat climate change. The commitments under the Convention, however, have proved to be far too inadequate to reach the objectives of stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations. Accordingly, in 1995, immediately after the UNFCCC entered into force, parties to the … Read More.
In 2003, the United States launched one of the most awaited cases in WTO history. European Communities – Measures Affecting the Approval and Marketing of Biotech Products (EC – Biotech) was anticipated, with eagerness or trepidation, by national governments all over the world, environmentalists, consumers, farmers, biotech companies, and many others. While the potential significance … Read More.
When the General Assembly, the supreme organ of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), meets in September, it will be asked to provide direction on issues crucial to developing countries and civil society organizations. Topics such as the inter-relationship of the different fora addressing the issues of genetic resources and traditional knowledge, the protection of … Read More.
In a series of actions beginning in 1997, the State of California banned the use of the gasoline additive MTBE, citing concerns that the additive had contaminated the state’s freshwater resources and jeopardized human health. Pursuant to NAFTA’s Chapter 11, the Methanex Corporation, a Canadian Corporation that manufactures a component of MTBE, has brought a … Read More.
Many small island developing state s (SIDS) ackпowledge the significant challenges posed bу iпvasive alieп species (IAS) but lack the capacity to address these threats. Small island states face а myriad of other pressing coпcerns, such as economic development, public health, sea level rise апd extreme weather eveпts to which IAS presents ап additional demaпd … Read More.
At the time of its creation, the Intergovernmental Committee on Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) was believed to be an important step toward developing internationally acceptable and equitable solutions for the protection of genetic resources, traditional knowledge, and folklore. Developing countries, however, in which the majority of these resources originate, have since often … Read More.
Export credit agencies (ECAs) are major players in international trade and investment, providing state-backing for large-scale business transactions that span the globe. ECAs, however, suffer from serious deficiencies, such as a lack of transparency and monitoring procedures, problems involving corruption and accountability, and most importantly, the detrimental character of many ECA-supported projects to the environment … Read More.
During the last decade, significant changes in policy have been made in respect to how water is managed and how it is supplied to consumers. These changes have resulted in institutional and legislative reforms, and a range of policy initiatives and instruments. However, developing international trade law that is compatible with the ability of countries … Read More.
This traditional “public domain” of the water sector has been challenged on the basis of a resurgence of neo-liberal market ideologies. Today many politicians and commentators are convinced that the supply of water through private companies can bring about much needed solutions for the pressing needs in the water sector. During recent years, policies encouraging … Read More.
Intellectual property is heralded bу some as the “foundation of human existence”, protecting invention and innovation while improving standards of life through choices for consumers and new outlets for human activity. Others see intellectual property rights (“IPRs”) as merely а government sanctioned monopoly and subsidy that puts territorial borders around technologies and other inventions so … Read More.
Most treaties include a minimum standard of treatment (MST) that requires that the host state treat foreign investors in accordance with an undefinable standard such as “fair and equitable” treatment. Traditionally, this type of treatment only applied to extreme cases of mistreatment. Tribunals under the North American Free Trade Agreement’s (NAFTA) investment chapter have interpreted … Read More.
The importance of water to all forms of life is indisputable, yet half a billion people suffer from severe shortages and nearly one billion people do not have access to safe drinking water. The availability of water is also a limiting factor for many industries, in particular agriculture. Balancing ecological and human requirements for water … Read More.
In the current World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations to liberalize trade in services, the European Community (EC) proposes a “proportionality test” for measure relating to technical regulation, licensing, and qualification requirements. In the same negotiations, Japan has recently proposed a Draft Annex on Domestic Regulation, which contains several differently formulated “necessity tests”, but nevertheless stops … Read More.
This brief discusses some of the key legal and policy issues surrounding access to water and the supply of water services. It describes how pressure from international financial institutions (IFIs), combined with obligations under international agreements such as bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), can drive national governments … Read More.
This is an assessment of a complaint brought before the office of the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (CAO) of the World Bank’s International Finance corporation (IFC) regarding the Pangue hydroelectric dam project,completed in September 1996 on the Bio Bio River in Chile. The assessment report addresses the issues raised in the complaint and conclude with suggestions to … Read More.
This background note provides an overview of recent trends in the international legal framework on foreign investment. The body of international investment law has grown rapidly, promoting investment liberalization and providing extensive rights and privileges to investors. The current framework does not adequately address environmental and social aspects linked to foreign investment. It does not … Read More.
The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and the current GATS negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO) require special attention from an environmental policy perspective. The GATS – which is both a trade and an investment agreement – may have potentially far reaching implications, amongst others for domestic policy choices relating to social … Read More.
This brief discusses some of the key legal and policy issues surrounding access to water and the supply of water services. It looks at these issues in the context of the prevailing trend of economic liberalization and examines how external pressures, in particular from international financial institutions, can reinforce this trend and result in increasing … Read More.
trade, investment, human rights, trade, investment & human rights, trade investment and human rights, sustainable development, unsustainable development, investment law, unsustainable investment, trade agreement, free trade agreement, free trade, bilateral trade agreements, BTA, MTA, FTA, multilateral trade agreements, host-government agreements, WTO, World Trade Organization, General Agreement on Trade in Services, GATS
The report by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, alongside the findings of other international organizations, recognizing the link between global warming and human rights could have a powerful impact on worldwide efforts to address global warming. It may establish a legal basis for holding responsible countries that have profited from inadequate greenhouse gas regulation, … Read More.
environmental democracy, access rights, Principle 10, Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, right to information, right to consultation, consultation, consent, decision-making, right to remedy, right to redress, Free Prior and Informed Consent FPIC, community rights, protecting, rights-based approach, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, UNDRIP, Forest Defender, redress mechanism, safeguards, non-carbon benefits, … Read More.
Certification schemes for natural resource extraction have received considerable attention during the last decade. Aware of such schemes’ potential restrictions to market access and their influence on the development of non-governmental standards, the trade regime has a particular interest in illuminating the angles of these initiatives, particularly as the applicability of the WTO’s Agreement on … Read More.
The relation between the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the TRIPS Agreement has been subject to continuous debate in the World Trade Organization (WTO), especially in the TRIPS Council and in the Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE). The core of these discussions has been focused on the lack of recognition … Read More.
This paper is aimed at examining some aspects of the debate on whether and how traditional knowledge could formally be considered as prior art during the examination of patent applications. It discusses the role of databases in making traditional knowledge accessible for purposes of prior art searches and makes recommendations on how best to ensure … Read More.
Our ability to develop sustainably depends on biodiversity: the variety and variability of genes, species, populations, and ecosystems to support our planet’s essential goods and services. Biodiversity provides resources, such as food, fiber, and fuel, ecosystem services, such as renewal of soil fertility and purification of water, and spiritual and aesthetic benefits on which human … Read More.
The relationship between genetic resources, traditional knowledge, and intellectual property rights is among the most controversial agenda items in the negotiations of several international organizations. A key issues is illegal access and use of genetic resources and traditional knowledge, i.e., biopiracy. In many cases of illegal access, intellectual property rights are used to circumvent obligations … Read More.
Like no other issue, global warming threatens the well being of both developed and and developing countries. While global warming is conspicuous by its near-exclusion in the preparations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), energy–and issue intimately liked to global warming–is prominent on the WSSD agenda, and it needs to be addressed with … Read More.
Export credit and investment insurance agencies (ECAs) play a critical role in international trade and finance in developing countries, and thus have a great impact on sustainable development. They hold the largest fraction of developing country debt, yet they are largely managed behind closed doors, and most documents and data regarding ECA-funded projects are not … Read More.
Property rights are an important factor in natural resource management. Indeed, sustainable development is unlikely to ever be obtained in many locals if the property rights of indigenous and other local communities remain unrecognized by national and international laws. Terms and concepts concerning property rights, however, have deeply imbedded and different meanings for different people. … Read More.
Services are key for sustainable development. Services include such activities as healthcare, transport, or the provision of water or energy. It is crucial that ongoing negotiations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) to liberalize trade in services not undermine the pursuit of sustainable development. Instead, new WTO obligations on services trade should support and compliment … Read More.
Achieving sustainable development requires a more complementary and coherent framework of global economic and environmental governance. Despite this need, little progress has been made in clarifying the relationship between the main elements of this architecture–Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). In clarifying this relationship, the international community will need to address … Read More.
Despite promises of increased direct development assistance, private investment flows are potentially the most significant source of development capital flowing into developing countries: as measured by UNCTAD, foreign direct investment (FDI)expanded in 2000 to a global total of US$1.3 trillion, with developing countries receiving 19% of the total. This paper argues for developing an alternative … Read More.
The objective of this informal note is to give non-governmental organizations (NGOs) an overview of the results of the Doha Ministerial of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and of negotiations and reviews currently underway in the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Council) of the WTO. The note will also present some … Read More.
This brief provides some observations on the results of the fourth WTO Ministerial meeting at Doha, as they relate to issues of intellectual property and the TRIPS Agreement, in light of developing countries’ concerns. Four texts will be analyzed in an integrated manner, including the Ministerial Declaration, the Decision on TRIPS and Public Health, theDecision … Read More.
By authorising investment, technology transfer, project development and emissions trading between developed and developing countries, the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) will present new opportunities for international trade. Projects hosted in developing countries will result in ‘Certified Emissions Reductions’ (CERs), which may be used to assist developed countries to meet their emissions reduction targets. … Read More.
Drafting an acceptable compliance regime for the Kyoto Protocol was one of the most difficult issues faced by international negotiators last year as they worked to finalize implementation rules for the pact both in Bonn and Marrakech. Yet while the accord did not settle whether there will be “legally binding” consequences for so-called Annex I … Read More.
The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the first multilateral environmental agreement of global reach to establish a market-based mechanism allowing state parties to comply in part with their treaty obligations by investing in mitigation projects in developing countries. Since this mechanism—the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)—will rely on … Read More.
It is beyond dispute that human activities are causing global warming, as even the U.S. government now admits. Although the world’s least developed communities have contributed little to the problem of global warming, they likely will bear its heaviest impacts, and certainly will be least able to adapt to them. The direct impacts of global … Read More.
This paper focuses on trends within multilateral development banks (MDBs), including primarily the World Bank Group and the major regional development banks. Section I reviews the emerging international recognition of the importance of public participation. Section II examines the emerging norms, mechanisms, and practices for promoting public access to information, participation, and justice in MDBs. … Read More.
Human right, human rights law, individual rights, community rights, access rights, environmental protection, human rights and environmental protection, human rights and environmental issues, Free Prior and Informed Consent, FPIC, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, UNDRIP, Principle 10, Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, environmental abuses, sustainable development, environmental justice, mining, oil, … Read More.
Various efforts aimed at addressing environmental degradation now accord significanceto socio-economic concerns. This transformation in thinking is reflected in documents arising out of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), the North American Agreement on Environmental Co-operation, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, and a host of guidelines, action plans, and legal … Read More.
A reasoned reinterpretation of Indonesia’s constitution recognizes and protects indigenous community-based property rights (CBPRs) and systems of governance. These provisions have been obscured by broad claims of state authority to control natural resources and village governance, ostensibly for the national interest. Article 18 implicitly guarantees legal entitlement by local people to participate meaningfully in managing … Read More.
This note provides preliminary observations on how the second drafts of the Ministerial Declaration and of the Implementation Decision address issues related to biodiversity. It examines developing countries’ concerns and concludes that both drafts fail to adequately address developmental considerations, and even raise new concerns. In summary, the new drafts fail to include many of … Read More.
Achieving sustainable development requires a coherent framework of global environmental and economic governance. Despite this need, little progress has been made in clarifying the relationship between the main elements of this architecture — Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). MEAs and the WTO each have a role to play in sustainable … Read More.
This publication aims to assist developing country negotiators in their approach towards assessment of trade in services. First, it explains why assessment is of particular importance to developing countries; second, it provides some preliminary ideas on the appropriate nature of an assessment; and finally, this note offers some recommendations to operationalise paragraph 14 of the … Read More.
El presente documento busca servir de guía a los representantes de los programas nacionales de Biocomercio sobre los principales temas legales internacionales relevantes para el comercio de los productos de la biodiversidad y para la definición de la Estrategia Andina de Biodiversidad. Basándose en los resultados del taller de Biocomercio de la CAF del 16 … Read More.
The note provides some preliminary observations on the draft Ministerial Declaration and draft Implementation Decision, as they relate to issues of intellectual property and the TRIPS Agreement. Both drafts raise concerns from a developing country perspective, and fail to adequately address a number of issues raised by developing countries in the TRIPS Council. Furthermore, the … Read More.
In July 2001 more than 160 governments came together in Bonn, Germany to complete the operating rules for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The Bonn conference was the resumed session of the Sixth Conference of the Parties (COP6), after last year’s session in The Hague ended in a deadlock between the European Union and the United … Read More.
This paper sets out views relating to the review of the provisions of Article 27.3(b) of the World Trade Organization. It provides a number of specific comments on the issues arising as part of the review, organized under the following three items of the chairman’s list proposed during the TRIPS Council meeting held on 21 … Read More.
As noted by many WTO Members, the non-violation remedy should remain an exceptional concept and be applied with considerable caution. This remedy, which has existed since the inception of the GATT but which has rarely been applied, permits a WTO Member to challenge another’s measure, not because it contravened an agreed obligation, but on the … Read More.
This paper provides some reflections on the review of the the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) required under Article 71.1.of the World Trade Organization. It notes the need for a full review of the Agreement from a sustainable development standpoint, in line with the decision of WTO Members at the General … Read More.
The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) contains international rules on the transnational supply of services in the framework of the WTO. While some free trade advocates have hailed the agreement as “the most important single development in the multilateral trading systems since the GATT,” many civil society groups and trade unions have been … Read More.
The “liability” rule for Article 17 emissions trading will address the question of whether countries who participate in trading can redeem assigned amount units originating from Parties that exceed their targets at the end of the commitment period. The rule remains among the most contentious unresolved issues standing in the way of final agreement on … Read More.
The paper represents an analysis of the text by the Co-Chairmen of the Joint Working Group on Compliance, Conference of the Parties, in regards to climate negotiations, dated 7 September 2000. Read full text.
In 1998 World Bank Group President James Wolfensohn created the position of the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (CAO) for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). The purpose of the CAO is “to assist the IFC and MIGA to address complaints of people affected by projects in a manner that is fair, … Read More.
The World Bank is an international financial institution whose шission is to provide loans and Credits to developing countries for projects that alleviate poverty and promote social and economic development. Among the Bank’s more egregious and well-docнmented failings is its inability to successfully rehabilitate the people and communities whose land is appropriated to make way … Read More.
[Pending, please check back later] negotiations, climate negotiations, Kyoto Protocol, Cancun Agreements, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC, Green Climate Fund, GCF, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, REDD+, technology transfer, Tri-Caucus, 2015, ADP, Safeguards, Clean Development Mechanism, CDM, climate finance
Effective implementation of international environmental and natural resource conservation agreements depends not only upon the cooperation of contracting parties, but also upon the ability of the agreement to win the continuing support and input of non-governmental stakeholders. This view, accepted and advocated by nations in the 1992 Rio Declaration, Agenda 21, and the recent Aarhus … Read More.
These Comments respond to or elaborate specific issues raised by the Co-Chairs’ Elements paper, dated November 3, 1999 and entitled “Co-Chairs’ Initial Thoughts on Procedures and Mechanisms Relating to a Compliance System Under the Kyoto Protocol.” I was distributed to members of the Joint Working Group on Compliance at the Fifth Conference of the Parties. … Read More.
These comments are made in response to the request from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) for public comment on issues relevant to the implementation of the November 16, 1999 Executive Order on the environmental review of trade agreements (EO 13141) Trade liberalization is an … Read More.
This request for reexamination is being filed by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), on behalf of the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) and the Coalition for Amazonian Peoples and Their Environment (Amazon Coalition). The Requesters respectfully seek a determination by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) … Read More.
The challenge to the patent on the Amazon rainforest plant used for ayahuasca is being brought by: the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), on behalf of the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA); and the Coalition for Amazonian Peoples and Their Environment (Amazon Coalition). Shamans of many indigenous tribes of … Read More.
A disturbing trend recently in the negotiation of multilateral environmental agreements is the push to include World Trade Organization (WTO) “supremacy clauses” in these agreements. These clauses threaten to make international trade law automatically superior to multilateral environmental agreements. Supremacy clause language states that the environmental agreement will not alter rights and obligations under existing … Read More.
How Annex I Parties to the Kyoto Protocol will achieve compliance with their substantive obligations, and how the Parties will collectively enforce those obligations, are two of many questions left unanswered by the Protocol’s text. On the one hand, Parties fear that an effective compliance and enforcement system may punish them for committing to obligations … Read More.
By seeking to curtail the net production of greenhouse gases, which are endemic to nearly all human industrial activities, the Kyoto Protocol promises to be among the most complicated and far-reaching of environmental treaties to date. Parties consequently desire reassurance that their efforts to fulfill their obligations will be met by similar efforts on behalf … Read More.
Promoting Legal Recognition of Community-Based Property Rights, Including the Commons: Some Theoretical Considerations, was presented at a Symposium of the International Association for the Study of Common Property and the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, June 7, 1999. The paper reviews threats to community-based property rights, including the commons, … Read More.