Convention on Biological Diversity

About: Convention on Biological Diversity is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2232 publications have been published within this topic receiving 65599 citations. The topic is also known as: CBD & United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

The Problem of Illegal Logging

Abstract: Illegal logging has become one the most prominent global forest policy issues. The G8 Illegal Logging Dialogue was launched at the annual meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Singapore in September 2006. This initiative will bring together legislators from the Group of 8 (G8), China, India and other key timber producer countries, such as Brazil, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Republic of Congo and Peru. The Dialogue is one of several international initiatives on illegal logging, which include regional ministerial conferences on forest law enforcement and governance (FLEG) in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) have issued statements on illegal logging, have organized meetings and prepared reports on the issue, and have included illegal logging in their work programmes. The European Commission has adopted a European forest law enforcement, governance and trade (FLEGT) action plan. Japan and Indonesia have launched the Asian Forest Partnership, which has illegal logging as one of three focal areas.

The Convention on Biological Diversity: An Institutionalist Perspective of the Debates

Abstract: Biodiversity came out as a global issue from the mid 1980s, under the pressure of converging forces: the threatening increase in species extinction and the changes in the theory as well as in the practice of nature conservation, but also the expansion of genetic engineering and the intrusion of industrial interests into areas from which they had been hitherto excluded. These elements have participated in the development of utilitarian perceptions of nature, reduced to a set of resources thanks to new technologies that have made its extensive economic exploitation possible. The Convention on Biological Diversity, adopted in 1992 during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, is in line with this approach (UNEP 1992). Indeed, the Convention rests on the notion of sustainable use of biological resources (first article), that is, an exploitation that meets the criteria of efficiency and equity and is meant to finance conservation but also to foster development in countries of the South and to benefit pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. The Convention presents the definition of adequate property rights to biological resources and related knowledge as an essential prerequisite for the institution of the sustainable use—hence of the conservation—of biodiversity. This analysis comes to adhere implicitly to the conventional view of biodiversity erosion as a consequence of the appropriation failure that prevailed prior to the adoption of the Convention. Transnational corporations then had free access to indigenous resources—including knowledge—and after screening they could patent parts of these resources or their applications, depriving their former holders of their traditional use rights, as attested by the examples of neem in India or yellow bean in Mexico, both patented by American

International Initiatives Against Invasive Alien Species

Abstract: Invasive alien species (IAS) are a major threat to biological diversity on a global scale, necessitating international cooperation to address the problem. This paper gives the context in which action against IAS needs to take place, explains the need for international cooperation, and provides examples of key international instruments, strategies, and programs to deal with IAS. Additional index words: Convention on Biological Diversity, Global Invasive Species Program, International Plant Protection Convention, International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Invasive Species Specialist Group, World Conservation Union. Abbreviations: CBD, UN Convention on Biological Diversity; GISD, Global Invasive Species Database; GISP, Global Invasive Species Program; IAS, invasive alien species; IPPC, International Plant Protection Convention; ISPM, International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures; ISSG, Invasive Species Specialist Group; IUCN,The World Conservation Union; PRA, Pest Risk Ana...

European plant intellectual property.

Abstract: This authoritative new work analyses European plant intellectual property rights. Whilst the focus of the work is on Europe, and in particular the European Patent Convention, the Council Regulation on Community Plant Variety Rights and the EU Directive on the Legal Protection of Biotechnological Inventions, these provisions are discussed within the context of international legislation, including the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) and the Convention on Biological Diversity. It is the first book to look at the impact of plant intellectual property rights on the European plant breeding industry and assess whether recent developments, such as the Novartis decision, will assist plant breeders, from all sectors of plant breeding activities, in the production of new plant products. In addition to a thorough discussion of the legislation, the book includes unique empirical research results obtained by the authors as part of a two-year research project funded by the European Union, which surveyed attitudes towards, and use of, plant intellectual property rights within the European plant breeding community.