If you have a relevant resource (books, papers, bulletins, etc.) you would like to see announced in this section, please forward a copy or review by the BRIDGES staff to Heike Baumüller.
DOWN ON THE FARM: THE IMPACT OF NANO-SCALE TECHNOLOGIES ON FOOD AND AGRICULTURE. (ETC Group, 23 November 2004). The Erosion, Technology and Concentration Group, an international research and advocacy organisation based in Canada, in this publication takes a comprehensive look at how the manipulation of matter at the scale or atoms and molecules, known as "nanotechnology", will affect farmers, food and agriculture. The report says that food and nutrition products containing invisible and un-labelled nano-scale additives are already on supermarket shelves and a number of pesticides containing nano-scale materials have been released in the environment and are commercially available. The ETC group urges regulators to use the precautionary principle on nanotechnology, put a moratorium on synthetic biology materials and remove all food, feed, beverage, pesticides and fertilizers from commercial or environmental release until a regulatory regime is put in place.
BIODIVERSITY OFFSETS: VIEWS, EXPERIENCE AND THE BUSINESS CASE. By Kerry ten Kate, Josh Bishop and Ricardo Bayon (IUCN - The World Conservation Union, November 2004). This report explores the potential of biodiversity offsets, which the authors define as conservation activities that intend to compensate for the residual and unavoidable harm to biodiversity caused by development projects. The report provides a synthesis and interpretation of semi-structured interviews about biodiversity offsets, conducted by the authors with numerous individuals globally. The overall finding from the interviews is that biodiversity offsets are widely seen as a useful tool for managing the adverse impacts of development activities on biodiversity.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN GMOS: LEGAL FRAMEWORKS AND DEVELOPING COUNTRY CONCERNS. By Simonetta Zarrilli (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 8 November 2004). This report examines the variety of different regulatory approaches to GMOs, recognising that the proliferation of domestic biosafety schemes is likely to further complicate international trade in agro-biotechnology products and to indirectly affect international trade in conventional agricultural products. It suggests that agro-biotechnology is particularly challenging for developing countries because they could be the main beneficiaries if it delivers on its promises, but they could also be the main losers if agro-biotechnology negatively affects biodiversity or if patented biotechnology makes access to seeds more difficult or changes the structure of food production systems.
"The Role of International Law in the Development of WTO law". By Jiaxiang Hu in the JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC LAW 7 (1, 2004) pp. 143-167. WTO law is referred to as the single package results of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations (1986–1994). Basically, WTO law is no different from other branches of international law. The general principles, customary rules and the way of interpretation of international law all apply to the operation of WTO law. Notwithstanding this, WTO law still has its unique characteristics, which are sufficient enough to distinguish it from other branches of international law. These differences can normally be perceived from their institutional status and dispute settlement mechanisms. The influence between international law and WTO law is mutual. While general international law determines the basic structure of WTO law, the creation of WTO law has also changed the landscape of international law.
"Like Products, Health & Environmental Exceptions: The Interpretation of PPMs in Recent WTO Trade Dispute Cases". By Robert Read in THE ESTEY CENTRE JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND TRADE POLICY 5 (2, 2004) pp. 91-101. This article is concerned with the ongoing debate on process and production methods (PPMs) and the extent to which existing GATT 1994 articles and WTO agreements are able to deal with these issues. The article provides an overview of GATT articles III.4 on like products and XX on general exceptions as well as the SPS and TBT agreements. It then summarises four recent GATT/WTO trade dispute cases involving PPM issues: tuna-dolphin; shrimp-turtle; reformulated gasoline; and asbestos. Inferences are also drawn concerning the likely implications for a potential trade dispute over GM products between the EU and the United States. The article then draws some policy conclusions.
"CBD: The Unmaking of a Treaty". By S. Faizi in BIODIVERSITY 5 (3,2004) pp. 43-44. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), formulated in 1992, was an international treaty that was relatively difficult to negotiate. Although negotiated in the global ambience of the new unipolar world order, the Southern countries negotiated a fairly balanced treaty that accommodates the legitimate interests of both the South and North. But perhaps that is all that could be said of the Convention. More than a decade after its entry into force, its achievements remain volumes of repetitive documents, endless surrealistically named committees and fissiparous meetings. This paper concludes that while the CBD process indulged in its own virtual world, biopiracy continued unabated in the real world.
"Strengthening the participation of indigenous peoples in the CBD: proposals for an internet-based information system". By Vladimir Bocharnikov and Alexey Fedotenkov in BIODIVERSITY 5 (3, 2004) pp. 40-42. Indigenous peoples have been marginalized in the negotiations leading to international environmental instruments. They have lacked the opportunity and perhaps the collective voice to participate in the discussions and negotiations regarding the implementation of these instruments. The problem of inadequate indigenous people’s participation remains to be solved and the inadequacy can be seen through all consequent COP 4-6 decisions. This paper presents one way of using an Internet-based information system for support consultations and explanations of CBD related process at all levels. In this consultative process information is shared and consensus positions and strategies are developed.
"The devil’s excrement: the negative effect of natural resources on development." By Melissa Dell in HARVARD INTERNATIONAL REVIEW 26 (3, 2004) pp. 38-41. The discovery of new non-renewable natural resources, such as oil, natural gas, and minerals, has often been viewed as a sure-fire foundation for national development. Natural resource deposits have undeniably brought prosperity to countries such as Norway and Iceland. Unfortunately, most resource-rich countries do not see economic development follow their natural wealth.
"A model of consumption and environmental degradation: making the case for sustainable consumer behaviour." By Bahram Adrangi, K. Kathy Dhanda and Ronald Paul Hill in JOURNAL OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT 5 (3, 2004) pp. 417-432. This paper develops and examines a model of the relationship between consumption and environmental degradation, using the per-capita Gross Domestic Product as the proxy for consumer behaviour and per-capita carbon dioxide emissions as the indicator of pollution. The time path of emissions and consumption are modelled within a dynamic framework, and the result is expressed as an optimisation problem from which Hamiltonian conditions are derived. These conditions are analysed through the use of a phase diagram, and the empirical section of the paper reveals the relationship between carbon dioxide emissions and Gross Domestic Product values across nation-states as well as the United Nations classifications for development among countries. The paper closes with an examination of sustainable consumer behaviour that has global policy implications.
"Corruption, growth, and the environment: a cross-country analysis." By Heinz Welsch in ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS 9 (5, 2004) pp. 663-693. The relationship between per capita income and a number of pollution indicators has been found to display an inverted U-shaped or downward-sloping pattern. Corruption may affect this relationship in two distinct ways: by raising pollution at given income levels (direct effect) and by reducing per capita income (indirect effect). The total effect is ambiguous a priori. Using cross-section data for several indicators of pollution, the paper estimates the direct and the indirect effect of corruption on pollution. The indirect effect via income is positive or negative depending on the income level. If negative, the indirect effect is dominated by the positive direct effect. Overall, our measures of pollution are monotonically increasing with corruption. Because this relationship is particularly strong at low income levels, developing countries can considerably improve both their economic and environmental performance by reducing corruption.
"Trends in global environmental governance: the emergence of a mutual supportiveness approach to achieve sustainable development." By Mukul Sanwal in GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS 4 (4, 2004) pp. 16-22. While multilateral environmental agreements have provided a valuable framework for building a consensus on broad objectives, their implementation requires a focus on the underlying activities that cause environmental degradation. Moreover, globalisation encourages the development and use of innovative technologies, leading to a large degree of overlap between global environmental concerns and national sustainable development objectives. These shifts require wholly new perspectives that are based less on determining responsibilities and more on supporting mutually reinforcing transformations. The new approach also looks beyond the state to other stakeholders as contributors to achieving sustainable development.
"The emergent ’system’ of global environmental governance." By Adil Najam, Ioli Christopoulou and William R. Moomaw in GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS 4 (4, 2004) pp. 23-35. A de facto "system" of global environmental governance already exists. The de facto system of global environmental governance is neither neat nor simple; it works in a rather messy, non-linear, non-hierarchical, and intertwined fashion. However it is a system that has proved to be resilient as well as prolific. This paper argues that although there is no real reason to make the system less messy, it can be made more effective by taking a number of steps that would (a) support the positive trends already apparent in the emergent system (b) strengthen the system as it evolves, and (c) articulate a clear vision for the eventual system that we wish to move towards.