Go Between 2001: no. 87
July-August
UN UPDATE
KOFI ANNAN WINS SECOND TERM
Acting on the recommendations of the Security Council, on 29 June the General Assembly decided by acclamation to reappoint Secretary-General Kofi Annan for a second five-year term. The decision was taken an unprecedented six months before the expiry of Mr. Annan’s first term on 31 December 2001.
Mr. Annan’s priorities as Secretary-General have been to revitalize the United Nations through a comprehensive programme of reform; to strengthen the Organization’s traditional work in the areas of development and the maintenance of international peace and security; to encourage and advocate human rights, the rule of law and the universal values of equality, tolerance and human dignity found in the United Nations Charter; and to restore public confidence in the Organization by reaching out to new partners and, in his words, by “bringing the United Nations closer to the people.”
Mr. Annan joined the United Nations system in 1962 as an administrative and budget officer with the World Health Organization in Geneva. Since then he has served with the UN Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia); the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF II) in Ismailia (Egypt); the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva; and as Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management and Security Coordinator for the UN System (1987-1990) and Assistant Secretary-General for Programme Planning, Budget and Finance, and Controller (1990-1992) at UN headquarters in New York.
In 1990, following the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, Mr. Annan was asked by the Secretary-General, as a special assignment, to facilitate the repatriation of more than 900 international staff and citizens of Western countries from Iraq. He subsequently led the first United Nations team negotiating with Iraq on the sale of oil to fund purchases of humanitarian aid.
Before being appointed Secretary-General, Mr. Annan served as Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations (March 1993-February 1994) and then as Under-Secretary-General (February 1994-October 1995; April 1996-December 1996). His tenure as Under-Secretary-General coincided with unprecedented growth in the size and scope of United Nations peacekeeping operations, with a total deployment, at its peak in 1995, of almost 70,000 military and civilian personnel from 77 countries. From November 1995 to March 1996, following the Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Annan served as Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the former Yugoslavia, overseeing the transition in Bosnia and Herzegovina from the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) to the multinational Implementation Force (IFOR) led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
In his acceptance speech to the General Assembly, Mr. Annan said “When your predecessors re-appointed Dag Hammarskjöld to a second term in 1957, he said that no one could accept the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations– ‘knowing what it means’–except from a sense of duty. He immediately added, however, that no one could serve in that capacity ‘without a sense of gratitude for a task as deeply rewarding as it is exacting; as perennially inspiring as, sometimes, it may seem discouraging.’
“After four and a half years in the job, I can only echo both halves of his statement. I labour under a constant sense of obligation–to you, the Members of the Organization; to all the world’s peoples, whom you represent; and in particular to my fellow Africans, whom you have honoured in my person today. But at the same time I am sustained by a profound feeling of gratitude for the confidence you have placed in me, and for the encouragement and support I have received from so many quarters. I am well aware that, on my own, I could never have won that confidence, or earned that support.
“Wherever I have travelled in these past four years, and whatever issues I have tackled, I have been inspired by the sacrifices that the staff of the United Nations make, every day, on behalf of the peoples we serve. In peacekeeping operations, in refugee camps, and in countless other missions of mercy and of hope, their dedication to the service of mankind is constant and unswerving. Whatever I have achieved, I owe it to their commitment and support, both in the field and at Headquarters. It has been my privilege to serve as the Secretary-General at a time of sweeping change and great challenges. My aims, I hope, have been clear.
“I have sought to equip this indispensable institution so that it can adjust to change, rise to new challenges, and serve its Member States and their peoples more effectively, while remaining true to the principles of the Charter. I have sought to turn an unflinching eye on the failures of our recent past, in order to assess more clearly what it will take for us to succeed in the future. I have sought to speak out in defence of those who cannot speak for themselves–for the right of the poorest to development, and the right of the weakest and most vulnerable to protection. And I have sought to make universal human rights the touchstone of my work, in all their aspects, because I believe they belong to every faith, every culture, and every people.”
Mr. Annan is the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, and the first to be appointed from the ranks of UN staff. He became Secretary-General on 1 January 1997, replacing Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt. Mr. Annan, a Ghanaian, is 63. His new term runs from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2006.
GA SPECIAL SESSION ON AIDS
The three-day Special Session of the General Assembly dedicated to HIV/AIDS (25-27 June) ended with the adoption of a Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS.
In his closing remarks, GA President Harri Holkeri (Finland) said:
“An historic special session of the General Assembly has come to an end.
“Three days ago, we gathered here in New York to unite in a massive global commitment to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic, responding to a global crisis of unprecedented scale. Despite the overwhelming statistics I highlighted on Monday, and the human suffering they represent, there is hope. Speakers in the plenary and in the round tables emphasized that we have clearly reached a turning point–either we will reach out to those who need this hope most, or we will be held responsible for not acting when we had the chance.
“This special session is also historic in the sense that it takes place only six months after the General Assembly decided to convene the session to mount an urgent response to this global crisis. An enormous amount of work has been put in by all of us to make this happen.
“During these three days Member States, intergovernmental organizations, United Nations agencies, civil society and private sector partners came together in round-table discussions, panels, workshops and countless meetings in corridors and cafes to share experiences, make new contacts and explore potential collaboration in mounting an expanded response to the epidemic. This special session gave ample evidence of how the United Nations can benefit from working with partners in civil society and the private sector.
“The Declaration of Commitment just adopted by Member States is the first global ‘battle plan’ against AIDS. It contains concrete targets for all of us to implement. It also contains mechanisms to follow up how those targets are to be reached. The beauty and significance of this Declaration of Commitment is in its pragmatic and straight-forward approach.
“By adopting the Declaration, the world has made a commitment to scale up efforts with specific targets and timeframes in all critical areas including prevention, care, treatment and support. The Declaration is a call for leadership and commitment at all levels in all countries; it is a framework for broad partnerships, and a tool for specific strategies, involving communities, young people and people living with HIV/AIDS, to turn the tide of the epidemic.
“The Declaration is also a global call for the resources that we so urgently need. In this regard, the establishment of a global fund has been welcomed, and a number of countries have announced pledges both to the fund and to the fight against AIDS.”
During the Special Session the GA held an unusual and heated debate on civil society participation triggered by the attempt of a number of countries belonging to the Organization of the Islamic Conference to block the participation of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) in the roundtable on HIV/AIDS and human rights. Canada, supported by other co-sponsors, including Argentina, Chile, Norway, and Sweden on behalf of the European Union, presented a written amendment that, following a vote, reinstated the IGLHRC in the list of civil society participants.
At a press conference following the event, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, “I am perhaps even more impressed by the strong participation of non-governmental activists–within national delegations, at a wide range of parallel events, in the round tables, and as observers in the plenary sessions. You can feel their presence and you feel the presence of these activists everywhere, and they really have transformed the atmosphere of the building–as they do at all the best United Nations events. I am more than ever convinced that such partnerships are essential to our success in the new century. Of course they bring problems and controversy with them, but so does every new idea....I have been very clear right from the beginning that we need to open up this Organization, we need to bring the United Nations closer to the people, and we need to work in partnership with civil society, with the private sector, with foundations. I think I have demonstrated that I am determined to do that. I think that the Member States are beginning to open up; the Member States are accepting it, and they are working very closely with non-governmental organizations. I think you can take it that we are moving in the right direction, and that that is the order of things to come.”
For more information on the Special Session, see NGLS Roundup 76.
SMALL ARMS CONFERENCE CONCLUDES
Meeting from 9-20 July 2001, the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects concluded its work with the adoption of a Programme of Action, which contains measures to prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms at the national, regional and global levels. Conference President, Camilo Reyes Rodriguez (Colombia) stated at the closing session that the international community had taken a significant step forward in addressing one of the most urgent problems facing world peace and security.
Unfortunately, he said, there had been no agreement reached on two of the most important issues–to establish and maintain control over private ownership of small arms and the transfer of such weapons to non-State actors–even though there was overwhelming support for their inclusion in the outcome document. While congratulating all delegations for reaching consensus, he expressed disappointment that deliberations on those issues had been hampered by inflexibility on the part of one delegation.
He went on to say that African delegations, representing the States most affected by the scourge of the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, had agreed only reluctantly to the compromise language on those two points. They had done so in the true spirit of reaching a consensus that would permit the global community as a whole to move forward.
Several speakers in their concluding remarks expressed concern that the view of the overwhelming majority, on issues related to the control of arms used by citizens and the transfer of such weapons to non-state actors, had been held hostage by the position of one delegation.
The representative of the United States said that his delegation had noted during informals that it would have been preferable to take the text back to Washington for final review but under the circumstances, he understood why that could not have been done. Still, he was under instruction to consider the text “ad referendum” until such a review by his Government could be undertaken. His delegation would consider it as such.
For more information on the Conference, see NGLS Roundup 80.
BONN AGREEMENTS ON CLIMATE CHANGE
The Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, meeting in Bonn (Germany) in July 2001, adopted the Bonn agreements on the implementation of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action. The package of decisions giving effect to the Bonn agreements will be completed and adopted at COP 7 in Marrakesh (Morocco) on 29 October-9 November 2001. The completion of work on the Bonn agreements will advance implementation of the Convention and prepare the ground for the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol.
The future of the Protocol had been put in doubt following its rejection in March by the incoming Bush administration in the US on the grounds that it placed too onerous a burden on the US economy and did not include developing countries in the mandated cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
“Today's agreement will keep up the pressure for early emissions reductions by governments and the private sector in the developed world,” said Michael Zammit Cutajar, Executive Secretary of the Convention. “It should also strengthen financial and technological support to developing countries to enable them to take action on climate change. The next step is for developed country governments to ratify the Protocol so that it can enter into force as quickly as possible–preferably by 2002.”
As part of the agreements, a special climate change fund and a fund for least developed countries will be established under the Convention to help developing countries adapt to climate change impacts, obtain clean technologies, and limit the growth in their emissions. In addition, an adaptation fund under the Kyoto Protocol will be established to finance concrete adaptation projects and programmes in developing countries.
One of the most difficult issues to resolve was how much credit developed countries could receive towards their Kyoto targets through “sinks” (which include any process, activity or mechanism that remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere). The meeting agreed that the eligible activities will include revegetation and the management of forests, croplands and grazing lands. Preliminary country quotas were set.
The agreements also contain processes governing the clean development mechanism (CDM) through which developed countries can invest in climate-friendly projects in developing countries and receive credit for the emissions avoided by these projects. The rules specify that energy efficiency, renewable energy, and forest sink projects can qualify for the CDM, while developed countries are to refrain from using nuclear facilities in the CDM. An executive board will be set up to oversee the CDM.
Other elements address international emissions trading, which enables developed countries to buy and sell emissions credits among themselves, and joint implementation, through which developed countries may gain credit for emission reductions resulting from projects in other developed countries.
The Bonn agreements emphasize that the three above mechanisms should be supplemental to domestic action and that domestic action has to constitute a significant element of the efforts made by each Party.
The Bonn agreements also include procedures and mechanisms for a compliance mechanism, which will be overseen by a compliance committee with a facilitative and an enforcement branch. One mechanism is that for every tonne of greenhouse gas that a country emits over its target emissions, that country will be required to reduce an additional 1.3 tonnes during the Protocol's second commitment period, which starts in 2013. Additional compliance procedures and mechanisms will be developed after the Protocol enters into force.
A statement issued by the Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said: “The Secretary-General welcomes the Bonn agreements reached after a marathon negotiating session, as they give a strong signal to the global economy that early in this century, emission limitation must become part and parcel of production and consumption processes. The agreements also recognize the need for more financial and technological support for developing countries to engage in a global strategy against climate change and provide a solid political basis for industrialized countries to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and bring it into force in time for the Johannesburg Summit in September 2002.”
The resumed session of COP-6 was attended by some 4,500 participants from 181 countries, including 88 ministers.
The sixth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP-6) to the Climate Change Convention was suspended last November in The Hague due to an impasse in the negotiations. It resumed in Bonn on 16 July, with the four-day high-level segment beginning on 19 July.
The Protocol will enter into force and become legally binding after it has been ratified by at least 55 Parties to the Convention, including industrialized countries representing at least 55% of the total 1990 carbon dioxide emissions from this group.
Contact: Barbara Black, Meetings Services Officer, Conference and Information Support, Secretariat, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, PO Box 260 124, Haus Carstanjen, Martin-Luther-King-Strasse 8, D-53175 Bonn, Germany, telephone +49-228/815 1523, fax +49-228/815 1999, e-mail <secretariat@unfccc.de>, website (www.unfccc.de).
33 COUNTRIES FACING FOOD EMERGENCIES
Some 60 million people in 33 countries are facing “exceptional food emergencies” due mainly to civil strife and drought, according to Foodcrops and Shortages, an annual report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Of these, 16 countries are in Africa, 11 in Asia, four in Latin America, and two in Eastern Europe.
The report says that sub-Saharan Africa was worst off with 16 countries suffering from food emergencies caused mainly by natural disasters and civil strife. Despite improved weather conditions, the effects of drought are still being felt in some countries in Eastern Africa, where emergency food assistance is being provided to some 18 million people. The number of refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) fleeing civil strife continues to increase, particularly in Central and Western Africa. Flooding in parts of Southern Africa, particularly in Mozambique, has resulted in several deaths and damage to property, infrastructure and crops.
Harsh winters have been one of the causes of food shortages in Asia, especially in Afghanistan, Mongolia and North Korea. In Afghanistan, civil strife has exacerbated the crisis. Armenia, Georgia and Tajikistan all face food supply problems because of the drought in 2000.
In Central America, earthquakes have damaged infrastructure, which has affected food production, especially in El Salvador. The prospects for South America, however, are good.
The United States also suffered from a very harsh winter, which has reduced yields. Official estimates indicate that the winter wheat area has declined by 5% since 2000, the lowest level since 1971. This was due to dry conditions during sowing times in the main growing areas.
Australia also suffered from dry conditions, resulting in a reduced wheat output: four million tons below last year’s bumper crop.
Unfavourable autumn weather in Western Europe means that the winter grain area planted is likely to decline from 2000. High temperatures in Central and Eastern Europe will have an adverse effect on the 2001 cereal harvest. In the Russian Federation, IDPs in Chechnya and neighbouring republics still need food assistance.
Contact: Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture, Commodities and Trade Division, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy, fax +39-6/5705 4495, e-mail <giews1@fao.org>, website (www.fao.org/giews).
SECURITY COUNCIL HOLDS PUBLIC WRAP-UP MEETING
At the initiative of its current President, Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury (Bangladesh), the UN Security Council held its first-ever public wrap-up discussion of its monthly work on 29 June 2001 at UN headquarters in New York.
Describing June as a “very busy and difficult month,” Ambassador Chowdhury reviewed the public meetings of the Council that had taken place during the month. These included meetings on the situation between Iraq and Kuwait; cooperation between the Secretariat, the Council and troop-contributing countries; Bosnia and Herzegovina; and Kosovo.
Mr. Chowdhury said that a recurring concern in all the debates had been “how decisions are translated into action.” In this regard, he recommended that the UN Secretary-General be given resources to implement the Council’s decisions and that systematic follow-up to these decisions be taken. He said that the proactive initiatives taken in sending missions to conflict areas was a positive advance, and noted that the Council had “generated major decisions through the dispatch of such missions.” Mr. Chowdhury also emphasized the importance of the Council’s debate on the first-ever report of the Secretary-General on the prevention of armed conflict (A/55/985-S/2001/574, see page 34).
Council members made suggestions about transmitting Council decisions and resolutions to the governments, groups and individuals for which they were intended. They also underlined the importance of sending Council missions to conflict areas and agreed on the importance of preparation.
A resolution regarding troop-contributing countries (RES/1353, 2001) was also highlighted as a key step toward enhancing cooperation for peacekeeping within the UN system, although Council members agreed that more needs to be done.
PEACEKEEPING COMMITTEE ON BRAHIMI FOLLOW-UP
The 2001 session of the UN Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations was held from 18 June-6 July at UN headquarters in New York. Before beginning its comprehensive review of peacekeeping operations, the committee held a two-day debate based on the Secretary-General’s follow-up report (A/55/977) on the implementation the recommendations of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations and the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations (known as the Brahimi Panel). The recommendations focused not only on politics and strategy, but emphasized how operational and organizational aspects of the UN system could be improved (see Go Between 82).
Presenting the Secretary-General’s report, Committee Chair Arthur Mbanefo (Nigeria) said that the spirit of its recommendations could be summed up in four words, “We can do better.” He emphasized the need to significantly enhance the rapid and effective deployment of forces, to provide missions with properly qualified personnel in sufficient numbers, and to ensure safety and security of personnel in the field in all aspects of work.
The report is the first comprehensive managerial examination of how the UN has implemented peacekeeping. It is a distillation of recommendations and suggestions from individuals who have dealt with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) through various aspects of conflict prevention and peace-building.
The report assesses the implications for the UN in aiming to deploy peacekeeping operations within 30-90 days of a Security Council resolution establishing them, as suggested by the Brahimi Panel and endorsed by the General Assembly. It outlines three options available to achieve this. The first is a “heavy strategic reserve” of equipment at the UN Logistics Base in Brindisi (Italy), which would entail an initial investment as high as US$350 million. The second suggestion is a “light strategic reserve” option, which would entail substantially lower up-front investments–perhaps some US$30 million–but would rely on extensive “retainer” contracts for the “just-in-time” delivery of goods and services (with very large annual recurring costs, over US$100 million per annum). The third is a “medium strategic reserve” option, which seeks to keep the initial investment, costs and annual recurring costs at lower levels–some US$170 million up-front investment and some US$40 million annual recurring costs. The report recommends the “medium strategic reserve” option as the most economical and practical.
According to the Secretary-General, any of the options to meet the 30-90 day deployment timeframe will require:
-- a one-time expenditure budget to enhance the strategic deployment stocks at the logistics base, as well as to cater for annual recurring costs;
-- entry into prearranged contracts and letters of assist for key services;
-- increased reliability of standby arrangements with Member States, especially for support units; and
-- improved “personnel surge capacity,” particularly for staff in areas of administrative support.
The report also says that the ability of the UN to meet the stated deployment objectives would be improved by a pre-commitment authority to initiate spending on essential goods and services before the adoption of a resolution establishing an operation. Such proposals, the report states, would help the UN to ensure that an effective civilians and civilian police monitoring structure could be established together with a rapidly deployed military contingent.
The report also presents the outline of a strategy for civilian staffing of peacekeeping operations to address critical shortcomings in the current system. That strategy hinges on five critical elements: enhanced advance planning; expanded sources of recruitment; streamlined recruitment procedures; enhanced rapid deployment capabilities; and improved systems for career development and training.
Among major issues raised during the ensuing debate were:
--the importance of effective consultation with troop-contributing countries;
--information gathering and analysis;
--proposals for enhancing the UN rapid response capability;
--the need to include a gender component in peacekeeping operations; and
--the importance of ensuring the safety and security of UN and associated personnel.
SUMMIT ON THE SECURITY OF INTERNATIONAL STAFF
Since January 1992, hundreds of peacekeepers and some 200 civilian personnel working for the UN have lost their lives. The increase in attacks against UN staff members and humanitarian workers worldwide was discussed at the fourth annual Summit on the Security of International Staff, whose theme was “Getting Away with Murder.” The Summit, held on 28 June 2001 at UN headquarters in New York, was organized by the Standing Committee on the Security and Independence of the International Civil Service and the UN Staff Council. The plenary session drew attention to the increased attacks and discussed possible solutions.
In his keynote address, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called on governments to “remember our partners in civil society, with whom we work side by side, and our friends in the media, whose efforts to inform the world about human suffering often place them in dangerous circumstances.” Mr. Annan noted that while a degree of risk has always been part of the job, the conflicts of the 1990s were characterized by a dangerous loosening of restraints imposed by international law on the conduct of hostilities. The protagonists of these conflicts, Mr. Annan said, “have demonstrated a profound lack of respect for the role of outside entities who are providing assistance to the victims.”
The Secretary-General emphasized that security depends on host governments fulfilling their obligations. “Parties to conflict must allow aid workers safe and unfettered access to people in need, whoever and wherever they may be. And all parties should respect the principles of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, in particular the distinction between combatants and non-combatants, and the civilian and humanitarian character of refugee camps and settlements,” he said.
Pointing out that less than one-third of the 189 UN Member States are parties to the 1994 Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, Mr. Annan stressed that “security starts with legal protection.” He urged governments to ratify the Convention without further delay and to approve a Protocol that would extend the scope of the Convention’s application to all UN operations and categories of personnel beyond those currently covered. The Secretary-General also emphasized that the International Criminal Court (ICC) could provide another layer of protection, as it defines attacks on peacekeeping and humanitarian personnel as war crimes.
The session was followed by a panel discussion that focused on the legal rights of United Nations and humanitarian workers. Panelists included Ralph Zacklin of the UN Office of Legal Affairs, and the NGO Coalition for the International Criminal Court (ICC).
OPTIONAL PROTOCOL ON CHILD SOLDIERS
In June 2001 the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) became the sixth state to ratify the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. Ten ratifications are required for the Optional Protocol to come into force. Seventy-nine countries have so far signed the Optional Protocol.
According to UN estimates, between 8,000 and 12,000 children are serving in army and rebel groups throughout the DRC as guards to senior officers, cooks, porters and spies. Though both the government and the rebel groups signed the Optional Protocol, neither has given a timeline for the demobilization of the child soldiers. The DRC’s ratification coincided with an Amnesty International report that says that there is an increase in the number of children being recruited into the DRC armed forces. According to the report, “many of the children who have been recruited have also been victims of deliberate and arbitrary killings, beatings and other forms of torture or ill-treatment.”
The Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict prohibits governments and armed groups from using children under the age of 18 in hostilities; bans all compulsory recruitment under 18; and raises the minimum age for voluntary recruitment by governments from the current standard of 15 to 18 years.
In Sierra Leone the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in May 2001 released a total of 591 child soldiers and children affiliated with warring factions. A large proportion of the freed children were child soldiers, while the remainder had been abducted or displaced from their families during the conflict. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) welcomed the children’s release and said it indicated a “significant demonstration of commitment to the peace process,” and urged all parties to the conflict to stop using child soldiers. “Our only regret is that the release of girls has been minimal,” said JoAnna Van Gerpen, UNICEF’s representative in Sierra Leone. Girls recruited into the armed forces are particularly vulnerable; they are often forced to work as sex slaves of soldiers and officers.
Contact: Rory Mungoven, Coordinator, Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, PO Box 22696, London N4 3ZJ, United Kingdom, telephone +44-20/7274 0230, fax +44-20/7738 4110, e-mail <info@childsoldiers.org>, website (www.child-soldiers.org).
FAO COMMISSION ON GENETIC RESOURCES
An agreement to protect the world’s plant genetic resources for food and agriculture was reached early in July at the end of a week-long extraordinary session of the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in Rome. The Commission comprises 160 countries and the European Union. The accord was reached after a week of intense debate, which culminated a seven-year process of negotiations.
The legally-binding International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources aims to protect the world’s most important food and forage crops in an effort to safeguard global food security. The Undertaking seeks to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from their use. The treaty will be submitted for adoption by FAO Member States at the biennial FAO Conference meeting in November. It will enter into force after ratification by 40 countries.
The presence of diverse varieties in a field can help prevent devastation by pests or disease. But over the past century, the traditional heterogeneous varieties that contain most of the world’s agricultural biodiversity have been displaced from farmers’ fields by modern homogeneous varieties. Most of these traditional varieties have been lost and many of those that remain can now be found only in gene banks, including those of the International Agricultural Research Centres. Away from farmers’ fields, these varieties are unable to evolve and adapt to changing environmental conditions.
“With modernization, fewer and fewer crops form the basis of the world’s food security,” said José Esquinas-Alcázar, secretary of the Commission. “A study carried out by FAO shows that, over the years, about 7,000 plant species have been cultivated or collected by humans for food. At present, however, only 30 crops provide 90% of the world’s calorie intake. This agreement will help protect global agricultural biodiversity.”
The agreement establishes a system that facilitates broad access to a list of crops crucial to food security. This includes both materials in gene banks, farmers’ fields and in the wild. The agreement also provides for the exchange of information and technology between countries, particularly to benefit developing countries and countries in transition.
It also ensures sharing of the financial benefits resulting from the use of the plant genetic resources covered by the system. Mandatory payments will be required when commercial benefits are obtained from the use of these resources. Payments will be voluntary, however, when a commercial product derived from these resources is still available for research and plant breeding. These payments will be used for priority activities, particularly in developing countries and countries in transition.
The Undertaking highlights the contributions of farmers around the world to conserving and improving plant genetic resources and making them available. While acknowledging that the responsibility for realizing farmers’ rights rests with national governments, the treaty asks governments to “take measures to protect and promote Farmers’ Rights.” Such measures include protecting traditional knowledge relevant to plant genetic resources, promoting farmers’ rights to share equitably in the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources and to participate in national-level decision making on matters related to their conservation and sustainable use.
A few key issues related to the Undertaking are yet to be resolved, and countries will continue to seek consensus on these issues over the coming months and during the FAO Conference in November. One of these issues is the relationship of the International Undertaking to other environmental, and WTO trade-related, international agreements. Another is the precise wording regarding intellectual property rights on plant genetic materials. Finally, talks will continue on the possible expansion of the list of crops to be covered by the system.
NGOs have criticized the text on the grounds that without changes it will allow rich seed and biotechnology corporations to acquire crop genes for a minimal payment and then privatize them. “This amounts to giving industry a free ride and exempting it from obligations,” said Henk Hobbelink of GRAIN. “The rich countries have asserted their corporations’ ‘right’ to ‘privatize genes’ over the rights to food and environmental security of poor people in developing countries. It is patents and profits before people and the environment.”
Patrick Mulvany of the UK’s Intermediate Technology Department Group (ITDG) said, “We are relieved that the IU has survived this make-or-break meeting. But the battle now goes to a higher level. The IU in this form falls far short of the fair, equitable and comprehensive agreement that 400 civil society organizations from 60 countries demanded. First, it is not fair–although the Farmers’ Rights are recognized they will be subordinate to national laws protecting the plant breeding industry. Second, it is not equitable–mandatory benefits returned to farmers in developing countries through this treaty will be a minuscule fraction of the food industry’s US$2 trillion annual turnover. And third, it is not comprehensive–it will apply to a mere 34 food crops and a derisory 29 forages.”
Christoph Then of Greenpeace said: “There should be no patents on life and especially on the genes and seeds that feed us. The IU was, and still is, an opportunity for the first time to exempt a category of genes from private ownership, and to put agricultural biodiversity before trade. We must keep up the pressure.”
Contact: John Riddle, Information Officer, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/5705 3259, fax +39-06/5705 3699, e-mail <john.riddle@fao.org>, website (www.fao.org).
ITDG, The Schumacher Centre for Technology and Development, Bourton Hall, Bourton-on-Dunsmore, Rugby CV23 9QZ, UK, telephone +44-1788/661210, e-mail <news@itdg.org.uk>, website (www.itdg.org). Also see UK Agricultural Biodiversity Coalition website (www.ukabc.org).
FAO/WHO CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION
Meeting in Geneva from 2-7 July 2001, the Codex Alimentarius Commission has agreed on the first global principles for the safety assessment of genetically modified foods, on maximum permitted levels of certain food toxins, and on guidelines for organic livestock production.
The Codex Commission agreed in principle that the safety of food derived from genetically modified organisms (GMO) should be tested and approved by governments prior to entering the market. In particular, GMO foods should be tested for their potential to cause allergic reactions.
“This is the first global step toward the safety assessment of genetically modified foods,” said Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO).
“International agreement on how to perform risk assessment of genetically modified foods will help all countries, especially developing countries,” added Dr. Brundtland. The Commission is a subsidiary of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and WHO with 165 Member States.
The Commission also approved a series of new maximum levels of environmental contaminants, particularly lead, cadmium, and aflatoxin, found in food, such as fruit juices, cereals, and milk.
“The work of the Codex Commission on toxic substances is particularly important given the long-term health risks for consumers, especially children,” said Alan Randell, Secretary of the Codex Commission.
“For example, lead is detrimental to the intellectual development of young children and the new standards adopted by the Commission definitely improve the current situation. Nevertheless there is more work to do and the Commission will continue to work on the issue,” Randell said.
The Codex Commission also set maximum levels of aflatoxin in milk and milk products. Aflatoxin is a carcinogenic substance that can be transmitted from animal feed (for examples, peanuts and corn) into milk. The new maximum limit for aflatoxin in milk is 0.5 micrograms per kilogram.
Some countries argued for a stricter aflatoxin limit of 0.05 micrograms per kilogram. However the majority of countries agreed that the higher limit was more feasible, particularly in developing countries. The Commission agreed to review the standard once there is new scientific evidence on alflatoxin health risks.
“Given the amount of dairy products that are consumed world wide–especially by children–it was crucial to set a global standard for aflatoxin,” said Tom Billy, Chairman of the Codex Commission.
The Codex meeting also agreed to new guidelines for organic livestock production. According to these guidelines, organic livestock farming should aim to use natural breeding methods; minimize stress in animals; prevent disease; and progressively eliminate the use of certain chemical veterinary drugs, including antibiotics. Animals should mainly be fed with high quality organic feed, not meat and bone meal, although fish and milk products are acceptable. The use of growth hormones is not permitted.
The Commission adopted a strategic framework that places greater emphasis on food safety issues in developing countries. Members welcomed efforts to enable developing countries to build their own food quality and safety systems. FAO has initiated a Global Facility on Food Safety and Quality for the Least Developed Countries to strengthen their national food regulatory systems and their competitiveness in international food trade.
Meanwhile, the WHO has proposed the creation of a trust fund to increase the participation of developing countries in Codex. While Codex standards, guidelines and recommendations are voluntary, they are recognized by the World Trade Organization as reference points in international trade disputes.
Contact: Erwin Northoff, Media Officer, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/5705 3105, fax +39-06/5705 4975, e-mail <erwin.northoff@fao.org>, website (www.fao.org).
Gregory Hartl, Spokesperson, WHO, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 4458, fax +41-22/791 4858, e-mail <hartlg@who.int>, website (www.who.int).
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND GENETIC RESOURCES
The Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (ICG) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) concluded its first meeting, held in Geneva from 1-4 May 2001, by encouraging discussions on intellectual property aspects of these assets. WIPO Assistant Director General Francis Gurry said this signified a “new outreach of the intellectual property system to look at the possible use of intellectual property in different ways.” He said that the real significance of the meeting is that the economic as well as the cultural contribution of traditional knowledge are being recognized.
The Committee agreed that certain conceptual problems exist with the application of the current intellectual property system to traditional knowledge and folklore, because intellectual property has a date of creation, a limited duration of protection and an identifiable author. Traditional knowledge does not have these limitations, and is being replenished constantly.
Member States said they supported work on how intellectual property can be used to protect traditional knowledge. The first step would be to first identify elements that can be protected. They asked the secretariat to compile information on the extent to which traditional intellectual property system is sufficient in addressing this issue.
WIPO will submit model intellectual property contractual clauses for access to genetic resources and benefit sharing to the next meeting of the Committee, to take place in the last quarter of 2001. This will provide an opportunity to develop best practices that can use the intellectual property system as a means of benefit sharing.
Member States asked WIPO to address this issue in conjunction with the secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) Commission on Genetic Resources.
Contact: Francis Gurry, Assistant Director General and Legal Counsel, Office of Legal Counsel and Organization Affairs, WIPO, PO Box 18, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/338 9428 or 338 9547, fax +41-22/740 3700, e-mail <francis.gurry@wipo.int>, website (www.wipo.org).
INITIATIVE FOR LDC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) launched an initiative in June to assist least developed countries (LDCs) to meet their obligations under the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs).
At the launch ceremony, Dr. Kamil Idris, Director General of WIPO, emphasized that intellectual property was a tool for technological advancement, economic growth and wealth creation for all nations, especially for least developed countries.
WTO Director-General Mike Moore said that the implementation of these obligations posed a considerable challenge, but they also presented an opportunity for the world’s poorest nations to harness intellectual property in order to accelerate their economic, social, and cultural development. He also said that the joint initiative, which offers varied forms of technical assistance, will help least developed countries promote their developmental objectives.
Least developed countries have until 1 January 2006 to bring their laws on copyright, patents, trademarks and other areas of intellectual property into line with the TRIPs Agreement. They also have to provide ways of enforcing the laws effectively, in order to deal with piracy, counterfeiting and other forms of intellectual property infringement.
The technical assistance available under the joint initiative includes cooperation in preparing legislation, training, institution building, modernizing intellectual property systems and enforcement. Of the 49 countries defined by the UN as least developed, 30 are members of the WTO (another six are negotiating WTO membership) and 41 are members of WIPO. All least developed countries can participate in the technical assistance offered; they do not need to be WIPO or WTO members.
The TRIPs Agreement entered into force on 1 January 1995, at the same time the WTO came into being. It was one of the outcomes of the Uruguay Round. The agreement specifies minimum standards of protection for each of the main categories of intellectual property, building on the main WIPO conventions. The agreement also deals with the enforcement of intellectual property rights. Under the TRIPs Agreement, developed countries had to comply with its provisions by 1 January 1996; developing countries were given an extra four years, until 1 January 2000; least developed countries have the possibility of an extension after the 1 January 2006 deadline.
Contact: Media Relations and Public Affairs Section, WIPO, PO Box 18, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/338 8161 or 338 9547, fax +41-22/338 8810, e-mail <publicinf@wipo.int>, website (www.wipo.int).
Bernard Kuiten, External Relations Officer, WTO, Centre William Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, Case postale, CH-1211 Geneva 21, Switzerland, telephone +41-22 /739 5676, fax +41-22/ 739 5777, website (www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/trips_e.htm).
GLOBAL ILLICIT DRUG TRENDS 2001
There has been a sharp reduction in the global production of opium as the result of a ban on opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan for the 2000-2001 growing season, according to Global Illicit Drug Trends 2001, a report published annually by the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP). Afghanistan accounted for 70% of the world’s opium production in 2000.
The report provides a comprehensive overview of the issue of clandestine synthetic drugs, including likely future developments. The report says that synthetic drugs have become an issue of global concern over the past decade, and have been spreading rapidly as part of mass youth culture. This spread is also due to the wide availability of their base materials, the simplicity of their manufacturing process, the flexibility of their evolving chemical composition and the difficulty of controlling their perpetually-changing base materials and end-products. The report says that the ten-year trend for seizures shows production of amphetamine-type stimulants have grown at an average rate of 30% per year.
According to the report, global cocaine consumption remained stable in North America, but increased in Europe and a number of countries in South America. Heroin consumption remained stable in Europe but increased in some Eastern European and Asian countries. Cannabis use, on the other hand, is increasing in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Oceania but decreasing in South and Southwest Asia.
Contact: Sandeep Chawla, Chief, Research Section, Division for Operations and Analysis, ODCCP, Vienna International Centre, PO Box 500, A-1400 Vienna, Austria, telephone +43-1/26060 4196, e-mail <sandeep.chawla@undpc.org>, website (www.undcp.org).
WORLD COMMODITY SURVEY
Globalization and liberalization have profoundly changed traditional methods of commodity production, marketing and financing, according to the World Commodity Survey 2000-2001, published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
The survey says that this can be seen at the international level, with the end of economic clauses in international commodity agreements, and also at the national level, with the disappearance of national commodity marketing boards and stabilization bodies. At the micro-economic level, marketing chains have become “disorganized and populated by a large number of players without established track records,” says the report.
The survey provides commodity profiles and statistics on issues including electronic commodity exchanges, genetically modified organisms, temperate zone agriculture, tropical products, fish and shellfish, metals and energy.
According to the report developing countries, especially least developed countries (LDCs), are suffering due to a combination of recent developments, including the dismantling of 30-year-old export earnings compensatory mechanisms such as the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Compensatory and Contingency Financing Facility, and the European Union’s mechanisms for agricultural commodities and mineral products, STABEX and SYSMIN.
The report says that tropical agricultural products such as coffee and cocoa experienced historically low prices, metal and ore prices increased in 2000, and petroleum rose from under US$10.00 a barrel in 1998 to US$30.00 in 2000.
UNCTAD will develop an international electronic portal (www.unctad.org/infocomm), where 40 commodity profiles and value-added information on market structures and innovations will be made available by mid-2002. UNCTAD will also develop a CD-Rom on marketing structures of cocoa-producing countries in 2002.
Contact: Olivier Matringe, Economist, UNCTAD, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 5774, fax +41-22/917 0509, e-mail <olivier.matringe@unctad.org>, website (www.unctad.org).
COMMITTEE ON THE PEACEFUL USES OF OUTER SPACE
The 44th session of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, held in Vienna from 6-15 June 2001, stressed the importance of:
-- the development of comprehensive, worldwide environmental monitoring;
-- using space to better manage natural resources;
-- building an integrated, global system to help mitigate and deal with natural disasters; and
-- providing universal access to global positioning and navigation systems.
These priorities reflect the recommendations of the 1999 Third United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III). The Committee discussed a mechanism to implement the recommendations through cooperation between individual Member States and NGOs.
The Committee also addressed the problem of space debris–retired or defunct satellites and fragments and small particles of different origins–which could collide with spacecraft and cause damage. The Committee said that international cooperation was needed to minimize the potential impact of space debris on future space missions.
The Committee endorsed the agreement of the Legal Subcommittee on establishing an ad hoc consultative mechanism to review the issues relating to Protocol on Space Property to the Draft Convention of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (Unidroit) on international interests in mobile equipment.
The Committee agreed that a new item, Space and Society, would be included on the agenda of the Committee at its 45th and 46th session. This would enable Member States to share information on their efforts to demonstrate how space activities such as remote sensing and telecommunications could enrich their daily lives.
CARIBBEAN REGIONAL SEMINAR ON DECOLONIZATION
Decolonization is one of the success stories of the last half-century, said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in a message to the Caribbean Regional Seminar on Decolonization, held in Havana (Cuba) from 23-25 May 2001. The seminar was organized by the Special Committee on the Situation with Regard to the Implementation of the Declaration of the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and People.
The regional seminar “provides us with a unique opportunity to recommit ourselves to the goal of assuring that all peoples can exercise their right of self-determination in accordance with the relevant General Assembly resolutions on decolonization,” said Mr. Annan. “Decolonization is clearly one of the great success stories of the last half-century, and we must see the process through to its end.”
Participants discussed the effects of maintaining military bases and holding military manoeuvres in Non-Self-Governing Territories such as Puerto Rico and Guam. They also emphasized the importance of dialogue between the Special Committee and Administering Powers, providing objective information to the peoples of the territories on their rights and the need for UN specialized agencies to provide assistance to Non-Self-Governing Territories.
Speaking at the meeting, Julian Robert Hunte, Chairman and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Saint Lucia, said that the seminar was a “critical first step” in the Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (2001-2010), as it proceeded to devise international strategies in a concerted effort to ensure that the right to self-determination was realized in all of the remaining Non-Self-Governing Territories. “Nothing short of this goal should be acceptable,” he said.
Participants included Member States for the Special Committee of 24, other UN Member States including Administering Powers France and the United Kingdom, representatives of some of the Non-Self-Governing Territories, experts, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, observers and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Non-Self-Governing Territories are American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, East Timor, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guam, Montserrat, New Caledonia, Pitcairn, St. Helena, Tokelau, Turks and Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands and Western Samoa.
MONTREAL PROTOCOL MEETING
Experts and diplomats from the 178 countries that are Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer met in Montreal (Canada) from 24-26 July 2001 to review options to tighten the international regime for protecting the stratospheric ozone layer.
Issues discussed at the 21st meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol included:
-- an annual review of new substances with significant ozone-depleting potential that may enter the market;
-- reducing emissions from ozone-depleting chemicals used as processing agents;
-- reviewing applications for essential-use exemptions for chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone-depleting substances for 2002 and beyond;
-- launching a study on monitoring and preventing illegal trade;
-- developing national management plans for reducing halons in critical use;
-- considering critical-use exemptions for methyl bromide to be implemented beginning 2005; and
-- tightening the Protocol’s phase-out schedule for developing country consumption of hydrochlofuorocarbons (HCFCs).
Participants also worked on preparing the terms of reference for a study on the replenishment of the Multilateral Fund for 2003-2005. The Fund helps developing countries fund the incremental costs of phasing out ozone-depleting substances.
An informal document containing a proposal on new substances with ozone-depleting potential was presented to the meeting. The proposal requested the secretariat to prepare and update a list of new chemicals that might damage the ozone layer, which would be included on the secretariat website (see below) and distributed to all Parties. It also called on Parties that had firms producing the listed chemicals to request the firms to analyze the ozone-depleting potential of the substances and submit available toxicological information to the secretariat. The document requested the Protocol’s Technology and Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP) and the Scientific Assessment Panel to develop an environmental screening mechanism for use by the Parties, which could be used to recommend more detailed evaluations of listed chemicals when the panels considered it appropriate. The Working Group agreed that the proposal should serve as a starting point for discussions on the issue in the Technical Segment of the 13th Meeting of the Parties.
The European Community had raised the question of tightening the phase-out schedule for developing country consumption of HCFCs. However, some representatives said that HCFCs were the affordable and cost-effective option for many applications, and there were no commercially viable alternatives. The countries had invested in HCFC technology to replace CFCs, and did not have the resources to replace HCFC technologies. They said that premature moves to phase them out could retard economic growth in many Article 5 Parties (developing countries). They suggested that the European Community might wish to consider carrying out more demonstration projects of viable substitutes in developing countries.
Currently, the developing countries are committed to a freeze in their production and consumption of CFCs at average 1995-1997 levels. In 2002 they will also be required to freeze halons and methyl bromide. During the three-year period of 2003-2005, developing countries will be further required to reduce the consumption of all major ozone-depleting substances. While progress has been made in reducing emissions, the ozone layer continues to thin as a result of past emissions. In September 2000, satellite measurements reported that the ozone hole over the Antarctic had reached a record 28.3 million square kilometres–around 1 million square kilometres more than the previous record in 1998.
The results of this week’s meeting of the Open-ended Working Group will be forwarded for final approval by the 13th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, to be held in Colombo (Sri Lanka) from 15-19 October 2001.
Contact: Madhava Sharma, Executive Secretary, Ozone Secretariat, PO Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya, telephone +254-2/623885, fax +254-2/623913, e-mail <madhava.sarma@unep.org>, website (www.unep.ch/ozone/home.htm).
CLEANER ENERGY SCHEMES
Voluntary actions by industry, governments and organizations are leading to small but significant reductions in emissions of global warming gases worldwide, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Energy Council (WEC).
Studies by WEC indicate that by 2005, the number of new clean government energy schemes, government initiatives and renewable energy projects will save the equivalent of one to two billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually. This is a saving of over 3-6% in terms of global greenhouse gas emissions in the year 2000. The findings show that despite political disagreements over the science and the need for legally-binding reduction targets, there has been some progress in reducing emissions.
China has reduced its emissions by 17% since 1996-1997–in spite of economic growth estimated at 36%–by promoting energy conservation, ending coal subsidies and supporting more efficient coal-fire power generation. A study from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California (USA) says that China’s CO2 emissions are already 400-900 million tonnes below what was expected in 2000.
The United States has the highest share of global CO2 emissions (23%), and the levels have grown from 4.8 billion tonnes in 1990 to over 5.4 billion tonnes in 1998, according to the International Energy Agency and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). But even there, the amount of CO2 emitted per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 11%.
“The fact that two of the most important countries at the centre of the global warming debate are acting, and are managing to break the link between growth and a parallel rise in emissions,” said Klaus Töpfer, UNEP Executive Director, “offers an important glimmer of hope which must be built on. We must do more, we have to do more. But the march to a less polluting world has begun and must be helped to continue even if there are disagreements between governments.”
UNEP estimates that over the next 20 years, some US$15 trillion is going to be invested in energy infrastructure.
Contact: Mark Radka, Energy Programme Coordinator, UNEP, telephone +33-1/44 37 14 27, e-mail <mark.radka@unep.fr>, website (www.unep.org).
Elena Virkkala Nikhaev, Manager of Programmes, World Energy Council, telephone +44-20/734 5966, e-mail <nekhaev@worldenergy>, website (www.worldenergy.org/ghg).
UNEP WORKSHOP ON TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) held a workshop to examine how global trade rules and international environmental treaties can be made fully compatible. The workshop on Compliance, Enforcement and Dispute Settlement in Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) was held in Geneva on 26 June and was attended by representatives of UNEP, World Trade Organization (WTO), MEA secretariats, and trade and environment ministries.
“Next year’s World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg offers a major opportunity for world leaders to promote a constructive relationship between our global systems of economic and environmental governance,” said Klaus Töpfer, UNEP Executive Director. “Efforts to strengthen cooperation between environmental agreements and the WTO are vital to building a world economy that can deliver sustainable development.”
The workshop aimed to help officials address potential conflicts between the legally-binding trade and environment regimes. One of the key issues discussed was the relationship between the compliance and dispute settlement systems of the two regimes. Environmental treaties tend to use measures such as financial and technical assistance to facilitate compliance, then seek to resolve disputes through conciliation and arbitration procedures. The WTO relies more on binding judicial procedures. Both regimes use trade restrictions to encourage compliance.
Participants also discussed building cooperation on implementation between MEAs, and between MEAs, WTO and UNEP.
The workshop resulted in a list of proposed steps, which include:
-- enhancing information exchange and joint capacity-building activities between the UN Environment Programme, World Trade Organization and the Multilateral Environmental Agreements;
-- explore ways to advance pending requests for observer status in the various WTO bodies;
-- explore cooperation in the context of potential disputes; and
-- continue informal cooperation on the interface between international environmental and trade governance between the organizations and agreements.
The workshop was timed to contribute to the debate at WTO’s Committee on Trade and Environment on 27-28 June.
Contact: Economic and Trade Unit, UNEP, International Environment House, 15 chemin des Anémones, CH-1219 Châtelaine (Geneva), Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 8243, fax +41-22/796 9240, e-mail <etu@unep.ch>, website (www.unep.ch/etu).
INSTRUMENT FOR TRANSBOUNDARY DAMAGE
A legally-binding instrument on civil liability for transboundary damage caused by industrial accidents will be drawn up by Member States of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). This decision is the result of a meeting, held in Geneva from 2-3 July 2001, of the Parties to UNECE Conventions on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, and the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents.
The instrument will fill “one of the major gaps in international environmental legislation,” said Kaj Bärlund, UNECE Environmental Director. “It will also have the potential to prevent accidents from happening in the first place.”
The legally-binding instrument will be negotiated within the scope of both UNECE conventions. The first negotiations will take place in November. Environmental NGOs and other stakeholders, such as insurance companies, as well countries that have not signed the conventions will be encouraged to take part. The instrument should be ready for adoption at the next Ministerial Conference to take place in Kiev (Ukraine) in May 2003.
Contact: Kaj Bärlund, Director, Environment and Human Settlements Division, UNECE, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 2370, fax +41-22/907 0107, e-mail <kaj.barlund@unece.org>, website (www.unece.org/env/welcome.htm).
ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFE SHIP-BREAKING GUIDELINES
International experts on hazardous wastes and shipping are working on international guidelines for the environmentally safe dismantling of obsolete ships.
The guidelines are being drafted under the auspices of the Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal and were discussed at the 18th meeting of the Technical Working Group of the Basel Convention in Geneva from 18-20 June 2001. The Technical Working Group comprises experts from Parties and other countries; intergovernmental organizations such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO), International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), International Labour Office (ILO) and environmental NGOs such as Greenpeace. The guidelines are to be submitted for adoption to the sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention in 2002.
The decommissioning of large vessels may involve the removal of tonnes of hazardous wastes, including persistent organic pollutants (POPs). Workers, local communities, coastal and ocean biodiversity, groundwater and air are all at risk. The guidelines seek to eliminate or minimize these risks by introducing universally applied principles for the environmentally safe dismantling of ships. The guidelines detail procedures and good practices for, among other things, sorting parts of the dismantled ships for reuse, recycling and disposal; identifying potential contaminants; preventing toxic releases; and responding to emergencies and accidents. They also address the design, construction and operation of ship-dismantling facilities.
Ship-breaking contributes significantly to local and national economies. Steel from the ships can be sold as scrap metal for reprocessing. Other material such as engines, electrical equipment, furniture, pumps and valves can also be recycled. Because of the labour-intensive nature of the work, a large number of ships are sent to Asia for dismantling. With increasing international trade, the global shipping fleet is expanding: estimates show that 500-700 merchant vessels will be scrapped annually over the next 15 years, particularly in Asia (Bangladesh, India and Pakistan).
NGOs present at the meeting expressed some concerns regarding the guidelines. Greenpeace said that without a strong linkage to mandatory ship redesign, the guidelines can serve as a disincentive to proceed with clean production of ships. Greenpeace also said the trade of hazardous waste to non-OECD countries could be unwittingly promoted by the attempt to achieve safe dismantling of ships containing hazardous substances. It was therefore important that the decontamination of ships takes place before scrapping them.
Another concern raised was that because some long-term recommendations–such as the removal of asbestos–could only be realized in ten years, ships sent for scrap before then would be dismantled in an unacceptable way. Greenpeace recommended that, among other things, there should be a strong emphasis on the clean production of ships; IMO should develop a mandatory regime for ship-breaking; and that IMO should insist on immediate and continuing decontamination of vessels still in operation. ICS has made available a Code of Conduct of Practice on Ship Recycling prepared by the industry in August, and ILO is working on a project to improve working conditions in ship-breaking.
Contact: Secretariat of the Basel Convention, International Environment House, 15 chemin des Anémones, CH-1219 Châtelaine (Geneva), Switzerland, telephone +41-22/979 1111, fax +41-22/797 3454, e-mail <sbc@unep.ch>, website (www.basel.int).
INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY
The International Seabed Authority, meeting in Kingston (Jamaica) for its seventh session from 2-13 July 2001, considered for the first time two recently discovered sources of valuable minerals in the deep oceans. Unknown twenty years ago, the resources are hydrothermal polymetallic sulphides and cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts, rich sources of minerals such as copper, iron, zinc, silver and gold, as well as cobalt. The sulphides are found around volcanic hot springs, especially in the western Pacific Ocean, while the crusts occur on oceanic ridges and elsewhere at several locations around the world. The Authority discussed this topic after having completed last July a set of regulations on exploring for polymetallic nodules, the first major mineral resource discovered on seabed areas beyond national jurisdiction.
The debate revolved around the issue of how quickly the Authority should move to draft regulations for the exploitation of these resources. Several countries, including some large industrialized States, argued that more time and study were needed, given the fact that little was known about the nature and occurrence of these resources and that their exploitation was nowhere in sight. Another group of States, including many developing countries, favoured a prompt start on the regulations, to protect the interests of humanity as a whole in deep seabed resources and to safeguard the marine environment; they also noted that prospecting for polymetallic sulphides had already begun in at least one area within national jurisdiction, in the Bismarck Sea off Papua New Guinea.
Steering between the position of countries that sought quick action to regulate exploration for these resources and those stressing the need for more information, the Council of the Authority decided to continue consideration next year of “conceptual issues” involved in elaborating regulations, while asking for further study by its secretariat and its Legal and Technical Commission.
The Council was also informed that six of the seven “pioneer investors” had signed contracts in 2001 with the Authority governing their exploration for polymetallic nodules in designated areas, with the seventh expected to sign shortly. During the session, the Council’s Legal and Technical Commission approved recommendations to guide contractors on the kinds of environmental data they should gather when checking on the environmental consequences of their exploration activities. The council deferred consideration of these recommendations until 2002.
The task of the Authority is to organize and control all mineral-related activities in the international seabed area beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, an area underlying most of the world’s oceans. This responsibility was assigned under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, as refined by the 1994 Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI (seabed provisions) of the Convention. The Convention defines this deep seabed area as “the common heritage of mankind.” The Authority, in existence since 1994, is an autonomous international agency having a relationship agreement with the United Nations. As usual, both of the Authority’s principal organs, the 135-member Assembly and the 36-member Council, met during the annual session.
Contact: International Seabed Authority, 14-20 Port Royal Street, Kingston, Jamaica, telephone +1-876/922 9105, fax +1-876/922 0195, website (www.isa.org.jm/en/default.htm).
DRAFT CONVENTION ON UNDERWATER HERITAGE
Experts appointed from almost 90 countries have reached agreement on a draft convention to protect and ban the commercial exploitation of underwater heritage, including archaeological sites and shipwrecks. The meeting, held from 2-7 July 2001 in Paris, is a follow-up of an earlier meeting in March (see Go Between 86).
The draft Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage is the result of four years of negotiations and will be submitted to the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for approval. It has to be approved by two-thirds of UNESCO’s 188 Member States to become an international convention.
In 1997 UNESCO’s General Conference decided that the protection of underwater cultural heritage should be subject to international legislation. The draft convention seeks to protect heritage within the territorial waters of States, on the continental shelf, in countries’ Exclusive Economic Zones and on the deep sea bed.
Issues discussed included sites of spiritual significance and war graves, such as ships that sank during battle. Some participants said that they objected to the granting of special status to shipwrecks that carried slave traders and invading armies.
There was also debate over States’ responsibilities for ships flying their flag that might be undertaking activities that impact upon underwater heritage, and with respect to States’ responsibilities for heritage on the continental shelf off their coasts. Some States were concerned that the Convention could undermine the existing legal order of the 1982 United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea. Participants agreed that the Convention on Underwater Heritage would be interpreted and applied on the basis of international law, including the Convention on the Law of the Sea.
If approved by the General Conference, the Convention will become the first multilateral text on this subject and the fourth heritage convention of UNESCO. The other conventions are the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict; the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property; and the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.
Contact: Press Service, UNESCO, 7 place de Fontenoy, F-75700 Paris, France, telephone +33-1/45 68 17 44, fax +33-1/45 68 56 52, website (www.unesco.org).
89TH INTERNATIONAL LABOUR CONFERENCE
The International Labour Conference concluded its 89th session on 21 June 2001 following a wide-ranging debate by workers, employers and governments on reducing the decent work deficit in a global economy. Summing up the debate on his report Reducing the Decent Work Deficit, Director-General Juan Somavía told delegates: “If this Conference has a single message, it is that all of us together must now move the Decent Work Agenda from aspiration to action, from design to implementation, from a vision to policy.” He called on the tripartite delegations to pursue their efforts at the national level in order to “highlight the different ways in which decent work is part of the development agenda.”
In addition to the debate of reducing the decent work deficit, delegates gave overwhelming approval to the first labour standard on agricultural safety and health ever, with the aim of protecting the world’s 1.3 billion agricultural workers. The new International Convention on Health and Safety in Agriculture will enter into force once ratified by two ILO Member States. A Recommendation on Health and Safety in Agriculture was also adopted.
In other measures, the Conference made progress in the effort in eliminated forced labour in Myanmar. The Conference moved to send a High-Level Team to Myanmar to conduct an objective assessment of the situation in that country, which has been repeatedly condemned for widespread use of forced labour.
Delegates also discussed a global report on forced labour prepared as part of the follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, and examined the Director-General’s report on the condition of workers in the Occupied Arab Territories.
The Conference delegates approved the Director-General’s strategic budget proposals for the 175 Member State organization and adopted a budget of US$434,040,000 for the biennium 2002-2003 to finance ILO activities around the world. As in the previous biennium, the budget is organized around four strategic objectives of principles and rights at work, employment, social protection, and social dialogue, which constitute the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda.
In addition, the Conference launched a new initiative of the International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour aimed at greatly accelerating the removal of millions of children from the most abusive forms of child labour in three states–El Salvador, Nepal and Tanzania–in the next ten years.
During the Conference, the ILO’s Working Party on the Social Dimension of Globalization met and agreed on a number of steps to strengthen its action and establish a programme to look at certain issues in depth. The first item in this programme concerns trade liberalization and employment, which will be examined in November. It also agreed that the Working Party should offer a permanent forum for exchange of views and dialogue. The Working Party supported the suggestion that an authoritative report be prepared on the social dimension of globalization under the responsibility of the Director-General. The Working Party will also pursue the idea of creating a world commission of eminent personalities to prepare this report. The Director-General will present a proposal on how this might be done at the next meeting of the ILO Governing Body in November.
Contact: Department of Communication, ILO, 4 route des Morillons, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/799 7940, fax +41-22/799 8577, e-mail <presse@ilo.org>, website (www.ilo.org).
UNESCO EXECUTIVE BOARD
The 161st session of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Executive Board, chaired by Sonia Mendieta de Badaroux (Honduras), ended on 13 June 2001 after having agreed on a refocused programme as part of the Organization’s reform and several major initiatives notably aiming to protect cultural diversity and the heritage of humanity.
An initiative of reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians launched by Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura at the opening of the session and which aims to start the joint revision of Israeli and Palestinian school textbooks was accepted by both parties.
The session of the Executive Board lifted the last reservations regarding the drafting of a Declaration on cultural diversity. Representatives of Member States requested UNESCO to provide them with principles and reference points to guide States in the design of their cultural policies and in negotiations within other organizations, including the World Trade Organization. To prepare the first draft of this standard-setting instrument–which many delegates said should be “positive and flexible” rather than “defensive and protectionist”–the Board decided to create an open working group, which began meeting on 20 June.
The Board confirmed the importance given by UNESCO to the oral and intangible heritage of humanity. Despite the difficulties inherent in defining this heritage, a first step was recently taken with the first proclamation by the Organization of a list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. This initiative will be continued with the development of an international standard-setting instrument designed to protect traditional and popular culture. This new instrument will be comparable to the 1972 UNESCO Convention concerning cultural and natural world heritage sites.
Members of the Executive Board strongly condemned the acts of destruction committed against historical and cultural monuments in Afghanistan and some even considered the possibility of imposing sanctions. The examination of means to prevent such acts, qualified as “crimes against the common heritage of humanity,” will figure on the agenda of the next General Conference in the autumn.
Another decision adopted by the Executive Board covers the proposal to establish the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education. It entails transforming the International Institute for Infrastructural Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering in Delft (Netherlands) into a UNESCO Institute that will contribute to improving the dissemination and sharing of knowledge concerning water.
The Executive Board examined at length the draft Medium Term Strategy that will guide the Organization over the coming six years. The Strategy, the cornerstone of the reform of UNESCO’s programmes undertaken by Mr. Matsuura, seeks to focus the Organization’s four major programmes around a common theme–contributing to peace and human development in an era of globalization through education, the sciences, culture and communication–with a reduced number of defined strategic results.
The Board also examined the draft Programme and Budget for 2002-2003 totalling US$544 million. This Programme and Budget reflects the decision to set a small number of clear priorities. Five main priorities have been determined–basic education, water resources, the ethics of science and technology, cultural diversity, and equitable access to information and knowledge. The overall budget of the Organization reflects savings of US$26 million and the cutting of some 200 posts at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
Contact: Press Service, UNESCO, 7 place de Fontenoy, F-75700 Paris, France, telephone +33-1/45 68 17 44, fax +33-1/45 68 56 52, website (www.unesco.org).
UNDP EXECUTIVE BOARD
The Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) held its