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The Personal is Political at the CBD

greeder June 9, 2011 0 Comments
~by Graham Reeder This week, three COA delegates have been observing the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization (UNEP-CBD-ICNP1), a technical meeting that aims to lay the groundwork for how to begin implementing the recently (Oct 2010) agreed upon...

Can we part with conventions?

Nathan Thanki June 8, 2011 1 Comment
by Nathan There’s nothing new under the hot Montreal sun, but it is worth noting anyway. The Intergovernmental Committee on the Nagoya Protocol opened Monday morning, the first meeting on access and benefit sharing since the Protocol was finalised at the COP last October. For a protocol that seems wholly unfinished—Swizz cheese with more holes than cheese as one observer put it, or, as new...

“You can’t have a tug-of-war without a rope”

Nathan Thanki June 7, 2011 0 Comments
By Nathan Thanki As CSD-19 finally drew its last breath at 8.52am on Saturday morning, the road to Rio looked not only rocky, but downright perilous. The CSD had failed to come to an agreement, the text was left, brackets and all, as delegates flew home. The possibility of a resumed session remained minimal—the likelihood that it would be an inclusive process; nil. As a result, the overwhelming...

The quick of it

Nathan Thanki June 7, 2011 0 Comments
By Nathan Thanki CSD-19 is only 3 days old, but already we’re seeing significant weakening of the Chair’s Draft negotiating document. Sad to say, it’s a case of the usual suspects: JUSCANZ. The United States is relentlessly pushing forth the idea that waste is a “resource,” like oil or gold, and should be exploited for economic benefit. The sad thing is that, with many people in...

Earth in Brackets 3.0 – Here at last?

Matt April 3, 2011 0 Comments
Earth in Brackets is undergoing a major design overhaul! (as you can tell). The good news is that it's almost finished. The even better news is that Earth in Brackets is undergoing a massive content expansion as well. Check out some ancient blog posts from past COA delegations via the "Categories" sidebar menu or the "Archives" menu. Even more posts will be added soon going all the way back to...