WINNIPEG—February 2, 2010—Franz Tattenbach is to become the fourth president and CEO of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, a Canadian-based international public policy research institute.

Tattenbach replaces David Runnalls who will retire in June 2010 after 10 years of successful tenure.

Tattenbach–an economist and specialist in sustainable development, conservation and peace science–is well known within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) where, as climate change ambassador and lead negotiator for Costa Rica, he became one of the architects and creators of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

The G77 and China nominated Tattenbach to the first CDM Executive Board, where he represented the non-Annex I countries and also served as vice chair.

Tattenbach emerged as the unanimous choice of the IISD board following a rigorous six-month international search.

For more information, please contact IISD Media Officer, Nona Pelletier: Phone: +1-(204)-958-7740, Cell: +1-(204)-962-1303.

Namibia has recently undertaken a Rapid Trade and Environment Assess ment which identified potential “green” opportunities and likely threats from international trade law and technical standards.

The Namibian RTEA aimed to:

1. Provide a preliminary assessment of the potential environmental impacts and “green” opportunities of trade relationships;

2. Provide strategic recommendations on a way for ward for sustainable development as input to the policy-making process; and

3. Build capacity to develop integrated trade and environment policies, and help plan and direct capacity building measures.

The assessment has ignited national debate among stakeholders from the often un connected sectors of international trade, environment, agriculture, water, energy, tourism and others. The rapid assessment is the start of a process of greater collaboration between these previously distinct sectors, which will have the opportunity to collaborate to a greater extent in the future. Namibia's economy cannot com pete with neighbouring South Africa's economic and infrastructural advantages, but the country can excel in some niche, high-value areas depending on how policy-makers plan ahead. This book highlights opportuni ties and areas for further attention and follow-up.

Key findings:

• Namibia can achieve its Vision 2030's wealth and well being objectives if policy- and decision-makers do not expect Namibia's development to look like the Western or South African industrialisation and bulk export model. A proven “smarter” strategy is to capitalise on its demon strated strengths in high-value niche sectors for specialised products and services based on Namibia's comparative advantages.

• Many good efforts on, for example, eco-tour ism and natural products development, are already un derway.

• Namibia continues to forego many opportuni ties in the (formal and informal) carbon market.

• Namibia would benefit from ap pointing a technical body and/or champion (e.g., in the Namibian Standards Institute) to monitor inter national market and labelling developments and com municate updates to relevant stakeholders including the private sector. Conflict between the rural development imperative, sustainable land management and com mercial meat exports need to be addressed through harmonized policies.

• There is a general need for coordination between those government agencies negotiating international policies which can negate each others' efforts.

Key recommendations:

• Policy-makers need to look at creating incentives for markets in unique, specialised products.

• Namibia should establish a national forum on trade and environment issues to continue work in areas highlighted by the assessment.

• Namibia needs more appropriate carbon market mechanisms which support sustainable land manage ment and rural development (so-called “co-bene fits”).

• The government should commit resources to pre pare and train Namibian negotiators attending inter national forums on the diversity of relevant domestic policy considerations.

Climate change threatens to increase the magnitude and frequency of major weather events and exacerbate the intensity of droughts and floods. Lake Winnipeg is particularly vulnerable—already facing a multitude of environmental challenges.

The Manitoba Challenge: Integrated Water and Land Management for Climate Adaptation, a study by IISD’s Water Innovation Centre (WIC) presents the case for technological and institutional innovation for effective ecological watershed management, which looks not just at water issues, but at land issues as well.

“It is critical that water and land issues are managed together,” said report author and WIC director, Henry David (Hank) Venema. “By integrating water and land management we can greatly improve the conservation of water resources, and improve the management and health of Lake Winnipeg at the same time.”

Key elements of this innovation agenda include governance reform at the water-land interface, re-purposing existing resources, and designing new economic instruments to support watershed management—including ecological goods and services programs in the agricultural sector.

The report is being released today as part of Manitoba’s initiative to collaborate and share information with water experts at the second Manitoba - Israel Water Experts Symposium this week, led by Manitoba Water Stewardship Minister the Honourable Christine Melnick, where Venema is presenting the recent work of the Institute on climate change adaptation.

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For more information, please contact Henry David (Hank) Venema Phone: +1-(204)-899-0104 or IISD media and communication officer, Nona Pelletier Phone: +1-(204)-958-7740, Cell: +1-(204)-962-1303.

Ecological watershed management is a key to successful climate adaptation in Manitoba, and will also help improve the state of Lake Winnipeg.

Manitoba is a region of high water variability—floods and droughts have always characterized the region. Climate change threatens to make that variability more extreme and may already be happening. At present, over 90 per cent of the available water budget returns to the atmosphere as evaporation; only 8 per cent is available as watershed runoff. As climate change brings more and more variable rainfall, ecological watershed management (for water conservation, groundwater recharge, and flood and drought protection) becomes an ever more important adaptation strategy and has the major co-benefit of also reducing nutrient loads on Lake Winnipeg.

The necessity of climate change adaptation also creates an innovation opportunity—doing things differently and better. In Manitoba, that means integrating water and land management; investing in our watersheds to seize economic, social and environmental benefits such as flood and drought damage reduction and improving the health of Lake Winnipeg.

The Manitoba Challenge: Integrated Water and Land Management for Climate Adaptation, a new study by IISDs Water Innovation Centre, presents the case for technological and institutional innovation for effective ecological watershed management. Key elements of this innovation agenda include governance reform at the water-land interface, re-purposing existing resources, and designing new economic instruments to support watershed management, including ecological goods and services programs in the agricultural sector.

As part of an ongoing joint project, the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the Pembina Institute will host an official side event on December 16, 2009, entitled Clean Energy and Climate Change Action in North America: A Coordinated Approach.

The event will be chaired by David Runnalls, president and CEO of IISD, and Clare Demerse, associate director, Climate Change at the Pembina Institute. The panel features high level North American government leaders, including:

• Jean Charest, Premier of Quebec
• Greg Selinger, Premier of Manitoba
• Nancy Skinner, California Assemblymember
• Shalini Vajjhala, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of International Affairs, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Gabriel Quadri, Senior Environment Advisor to Mayor Ebrard of Mexico City

The panel members will provide their perspective on how a coordinated, collaborative North American approach to climate change and clean energy can assist Canada, Mexico and the United States in achieving deep emission reductions and meeting the goals of the UN climate convention. Each panel member is invited to give their remarks for 10 minutes, followed by 30-35 minutes of discussion.

For more information, please contact IISD media and communication officer Nona Pelletier
Cell: +1-(204)-962-1303.

More information about the debate:
The Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs Per Stig Møller has invited a panel of world leaders for a debate on the impact of climate change on international security. In addition to the Danish Foreign Minister the panel will include:

• NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen
• EU Presidency, Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt
• African Union Commission Chairperson Dr. Jean Ping
• The moderator will be Steffen Kretz, Senior International Editor and anchor with the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR).

Practical information:
Time and date: December 15, 2009 1.30-3pm. Doors open at 12.30 and close at 1.15 P.M. CET, to ensure a prompt start to the debate. Venue: DR-Byen’s Concert House, Studie 2, Emil Holms Kanal 20, 0999 Copenhagen C.
Nearest metro: DR-Byen (two stops from the Bella Center).

Members of the press wishing to bring cameras and other equipment to the event must have COP15 accreditation and must arrive at the event no later than 12.30 P.M. CET. A specific press card will not be issued for this event, but COP15 accreditation card must be carried visually.

*All members of the press must register by sending an email to prs@um.dk with name and media by December 14, 12 P.M. CET.

Contact persons for the Danish Government’s event:
For the press in general: Ms. Janina Graae jangra@um.dk / M:+45 4083 8937
For general information: Ms. Catherine Lorenzen catlor@um.dk / D:+45 3392 1855 / M:+45 5087 6545

This session will assess the challenges and opportunities to support the transition of developing countries to a low carbon development pathway, by mobilizing private sector investment for emerging market-based mechanisms.

There is positive momentum towards the establishment of national appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs) and sector-based approaches to greenhouse gas reductions, at the international level. While this creates new opportunities, the degree to which any international agreement will be able to meet its climate change and sustainable development objectives will depend on its translation to real action at the national and sub-national level.

Private sector investment will also play a critical role in this process.

(Please see more about IISD at COP15 and related commentaries http://www.iisd.org/climate/unfccc/cop.aspx.)

Moderated by John Drexhage, IISD

• Kim Chan-Woo, Director General , Ministry of Environment, South Korea
• Erik Haites, Margaree Consultants, Canada
• Samuel Nnah, Centre for Environment and Development, Cameroon
• Syamsidar Thamrin, Deputy Director Climate Change, Environment Directorate, National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), Indonesia
• Suzanna Kahn Ribeiro, Professor, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Each participant will be invited to give 10 minutes of remarks, followed by a facilitated discussion.  

For more information, please contact IISD media and communication officer Nona Pelletier 
Cell: +1-(204)-962-1303.
(For local calls during COP15 in Copenhagen, please phone 53 97 61 23 until December 18, 2009)

IISD is kicking off the second week of the international climate change conference in Copenhagen with three separate side events, on Monday, to build momentum for low carbon development strategies, fossil-fuel subsidy reform and action on trade and climate change.

“Climate change is an urgent issue. It isn’t just an environmental issue anymore. It is also the economic and social issue of our time and the outside world is becoming increasingly frustrated at the lack of progress displayed in the conference centre,” Runnalls said.

“While governments talk about the need to expand trade to help emerge from the economic crisis, much of the action at the legislative level seems designed to protect domestic industry, thereby threatening the integrity of the trading system,” Runnalls said, adding that the world can’t afford to continue on this path.

“IISD has ideas for using trade to promote low carbon development and investment in renewable energy technologies. And while governments complain that their fiscal situations are too stretched to accommodate funding for clean energy research and for assisting developing countries with adaptation to climate change, they continue to pour subsidies into the fossil fuels, which are responsible for the climate problem in the first place.

“Our Global Subsidies Initiative is aimed at identifying the sources and extent of such subsidies so that they can be turned to more sensible solutions.”

IISD’s side events will feature its senior directors and advisors including John Drexhage, Mark Halle, Peter Wooders and Aaron Cosbey, as well as other members of IISD’s climate change and energy team, and other panelists attending the Fifteenth Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Fifth Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP 15 and COP/MOP 5).

Tomorrow’s side events are designed to advance action on climate change through policy research, development and implementation on the following key issues:

• Moving to a Low Carbon Development Pathway
• Phasing out Fossil-Fuel Subsidies: Moving from rhetoric to reform
• Trade and Investment: Fostering or Frustrating Climate Objectives?

For more information about the Institute’s work at the conference, please see IISD at COP15, as well as related commentaries and its Climate Change and Energy program.

For more information, please contact IISD media and communication officer Nona Pelletier
Cell: +1-(204)-962-1303.
(For local calls during COP15 in Copenhagen, please phone 53 97 61 23 until December 18, 2009)

Reforming fossil fuel subsidies would save governments billions of dollars while also significantly reducing greenhouse emissions and incentivizing cleaner forms of energy and energy efficiency. Though long overdue, this potentially transformative issue suddenly reached international consensus with the announcement by G-20 leaders, meeting in Pittsburgh on 24-25 September 2009, that they intended to phase out subsidies to fossil fuels over the medium term.

The challenge lies in implementation. The event will bring together speakers and observers from a range of G-20 governments, inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations as well as the private sector, to focus on how the political commitment to phase out fossil-fuel subsidies can be translated into effective reform. Moderated by IISD's Mark Halle, the event will build upon analysis and insight gained through IISD's Global Subsidies Initiative's work on fossil-fuel subsidies.

15:00     Opening remarks by Mark Halle (moderator), Executive Director, IISD-Europe: The building blocks of fossil-fuel subsidies reform

15:20     The perspective of Finance Ministries in fossil-fuel subsidies reform, Per Callesen Deputy Permanent Secretary, Danish Ministry of Finance

15:30     National approaches to developing and implementing strategies for reforming fossil-fuel subsidies, William A. Pizer, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environment and Energy, U.S. Department of the Treasury

15:40     National approaches to developing and implementing strategies for reforming fossil-fuel subsidies, Andrew Dobbie, Department of Energy and Climate Change, United Kingdom

15:50     Overcoming challenges: the political challenges of energy reform and protecting the poor, former President of Costa Rica, José Maria Figueres Olsen, Founder of the Global Observatory

16:00     The role of international organizations in supporting reform efforts, Helen Mountford, Acting Deputy Director, Environment Directorate, OECD

16:10     The role of international organizations in supporting reform efforts, Fatih Birol, Chief Economist, International Energy Agency

16:20-17:00         Questions and discussion

(Please see more about the Global Subsidies Initiative, IISD at COP15 and related commentaries) http://www.iisd.org/climate/unfccc/cop.aspx.)

*Participants will need to have previously registered or have COP15 badges for entry.

For more information, please contact IISD media and communication officer Nona Pelletier
Cell: +1-(204)-962-1303.
(For local calls during COP15 in Copenhagen, please phone 53 97 61 23 until December 18, 2009)

IISD Side Event: Trade and Investment: Fostering or Frustrating Climate Objectives?

Monday, December 14, 2009, 09:00-13:00 CET (GMT +1)
*Crowne Plaza Hotel, IETA room Mount Everest 3, Orestads Blvd 114-118
(One Metro stop from the Bella Centre at Orestad)
UNFCCC COP15, Copenhagen

IISD has been working intensively on trade and climate change issues since it helped organize the Trade Ministers’ meeting in Bali at COP13. A suite of research has led to our round-up event in Copenhagen: a mini-symposium focused on four key issue areas.

09:00 Liberalization of low-carbon goods: The promise and the pitfalls
Mahesh Sugathan (ICTSD): Liberalization of trade in environmental goods and services: The devil in the details
Peter Wooders (IISD): Estimating the GHG mitigation potential of liberalization

10:00 Border carbon adjustment: Trade measures in pursuit of climate objectives
Susanne Dröge (German Institute for International and Security Affairs): Tackling leakage in a world of unequal carbon prices
Jake Werksman (WRI): Challenges of fair and effective BCA
Aaron Cosbey (IISD): WTO legal issues; principles of good practice

11:00 Investment, technology transfer and climate change
Karsten Neuhoff (Climate Policy Initiative): International support for domestic policies in developing countries
Peter Wooders (IISD): Case study: wind power in Egypt
Smita Nakhooda (WRI): Investing in a sustainable future: MDB support for energy policy

12:00 Intellectual property rights and climate change
Bernice Lee (Chatham House): Who owns our low carbon future? IP and energy technology
Ahmet Abdul Latif (ICTSD): IPRs and dissemination of clean technology 

(Please see more about IISD at COP15 and related commentaries) http://www.iisd.org/climate/unfccc/cop.aspx.)

*Participants will need to have previously registered or have COP15 badges for entry.

For more information, please contact IISD media and communication officer Nona Pelletier
Cell: +1-(204)-962-1303.
(For local calls during COP15 in Copenhagen, please phone 53 97 61 23 until December 18, 2009)

REDD and Development: Ensuring the Integrity of Greenhouse Gas Reductions and Development Benefits

Friday, December 11, 2009, 3:30-5:00 P.M. CET (GMT+1)
Koncerthuset (The Concert House), DR Byen (Two Metro stops from the Bella Centre)
UNFCCC COP15, Copenhagen

Agreement on an international framework to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD) is expected to be one of the main outcomes of the Copenhagen climate talks. IISD reports on its REDD capacity building workshops, held in Nairobi and Hanoi in November 2009. IISD delivered the workshops in cooperation with the Alternatives to Slash and Burn Partnership for the Tropical Forest Margins, World Agroforestry Centre (ASB-ICRAF), with the support of the Government of Norway. (see IISD’s work on land-use management).

In many poor countries, the delivery of development benefits will depend on the inclusion of emissions from agriculture and other land uses. One of the key questions is therefore how the scope of REDD can be expanded to include emissions from such land uses. Panelists will discuss how REDD should be structured to ensure there will be development benefits, without jeopardizing the integrity of greenhouse gas reductions.

The panel is organized jointly by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), in collaboration with the ASB-ICRAF and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).

Moderated by IISD's John Drexhage. Speakers:

• Dr. Dennis Garrity, Director General, ICRAF
• Ms. Maryanne Grieg-Gran, Programme Director, Environmental Economics, IIED
• Ms. Pham Minh Thoa, Deputy Director General, Department of Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development , Vietnam
• Dr. George Wamukoya, Climate Advisor, Common Market for East and Southern Africa

 Speakers will address, among other issues:

• Requirements for monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of REDD that ensure the integrity of greenhouse gas emissions while encouraging developing country participation and guaranteeing development benefits
• Options to include agriculture in REDD
• Coherence between REDD and agricultural development and linkages with adaptation strategies
• The potential of Agroforestry as high carbon land use
• Country and regional perspectives from Vietnam and Africa  

For more information, please contact IISD media and communication officer, Nona Pelletier
Phone: +1-(204)-958-7740, Cell: +1-(204)-962-1303.
(For local calls during COP15 in Copenhagen, please phone 53 976 123 until December 18, 2009)

As part of the celebrations, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani signed a new economic agreement with Germany at an event this week to replace the first bilateral investment treaty signed 50 years ago, in 1959. Since then, there have been over 2,700 such treaties, signed by at least 179 countries.

“The celebrations fail to focus on the implications of these treaties for developing countries, which are based on a format designed to protect the interests of foreign investors and nothing else,” said Bernasconi-Osterwalder, senior international lawyer and head of IISD’s investment program.

Over 77 countries, the majority of whom are developing states, have faced the consequences of arbitrations launched by investors under such treaties. These agreements are unique in the world of treaties, as they allow private investors to bring a claim directly against states to challenge a wide range of governmental action, including domestic regulation. 

“Pakistan may be expecting increased investments and other benefits from the new treaty, but in reality the German-Pakistan treaty is only about Pakistan providing guarantees and assurances to the German investors in Pakistan, not the other way around,” she said.

“The diplomatic protocol associated with these agreements, which have often been described as 'photo opportunities,' continues to exert pressure on states to conclude such agreements, despite the growing threat of investor-state claims, ” she said.

She added that Germany's own conduct has recently been challenged by a Swedish investor under the Energy Charter Treaty, which may have implications with respect to placing boundaries on the government’s ability to implement environmental and social policies.

“There are stark realities that underlie the complexity of these treaties. What we need now is greater transparency, predictability, and new thinking.  We need to remove the layers of complexity that undermine the social, economic and environmental aspirations of the developing countries that enter into these agreements.”

For additional comment, please contact Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder by email: nbernasconi@iisd.org.

For more information, please contact IISD media and communication officer, Nona Pelletier
Phone: +1-(204)-958-7740, Cell: +1-(204)-962-1303.

“By acknowledging uncertainty, we can design policies that help adapt to future stresses more effectively,” he said.

Creating Adaptive Policies: A guide for policy –making in an uncertain world, was written to help policy-makers make policies that help people weather a perfect storm of global crises—especially in the context of climate change and other pressing social, environmental and economic issues.

The guidebook is the culmination of four years of research undertaken by the Canadian-based International Institute for Sustainable Development and India’s The Energy and Resources Institute. It was edited by IISD’s Darren Swanson and Teri’s Suruchi Bhadwal.

“The guidebook helps us develop adaptive policies that perform effectively under dynamic and uncertain conditions,” said IISD president and CEO David Runnalls. “Far from serving the public good, non-adaptive policies may actually get in the way.”

Stephen McGurk, director of Canada’s International Development Research Centre’s regional office in South Asia and China, which provided financial support and advice for the project, said a diversity of policy tools are needed to address uncertain conditions. “Decentralized policy applications can enable innovation compared with catch-all national level policies that are not informed by local conditions."

The book describes seven tools to craft more adaptive policies that match the complexity of sustainable development.  It also includes a number of specific case examples that may resonate most closely with policy-makers working in agriculture and water resource management sectors, and for policy-makers dealing with climate change issues, though the tools are relevant to any complex policy issue.

As nongovernmental organizations, IISD and TERI have over 50 years of collective operational experience in sustainable development research and practice.

For more information, please contact IISD media and communication officer, Nona Pelletier Phone: +1-(204)-958-7740, Cell: +1-(204)-962-1303.

“As the first decade of the 21st Century closes, can we be pleased with the progress we have made in the development of energy efficiency and the mitigation of climate change?”

IISDs Mark Halle responds to the question posed by Comment:Visions and European Voice for their December 2009 issue, saying, “On the eve of the Copenhagen COP, we have lowered expectations so far that it recalls the pop culture title by Richard Fariña: Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me. We all hope to be pleasantly surprised by Copenhagen, but we are all secretly girding ourselves to explain away a disappointment. But pleased with the progress we have made...? Cmon.”

Comment:Visions, is a project of Euronews channel and Brussels-based European Voice newspaper. The project explores the personal views of thinkers, innovators and scientists about possible solutions to such challenges as global warming, overpopulation and dwindling resources.

El estudio proporciona un panorama global de los principales aspectos económicos y ambientales en el Ecuador, considerando especialmente las relaciones de comercio internacional y del régimen de inversiones, suscritos por el Ecuador. Además, el estudio identifica y analiza los impactos comerciales y ambientales tanto positivos como negativos de los sectores económicos que tienen más incidencia en la economía ecuatoriana y que tienen una alta probabilidad de continuar su desarrollo a futuro. Estos sectores son el florícola, camaronero, maderero, turístico y minero.

El análisis de los sectores, da como resultado una apreciación de las implicancias económicas y ambientales de su desarrollo. Proporciona elementos de política comercial y de inversiones para mejorar la relación entre el comercio y ambiente; y desarrolla medidas de política que puedan potenciar los impactos positivos y logren mitigar los impactos negativos.

Recomendaciones:

• Incentivar la obtención de certificaciones ambientales, de origen y de las cadenas productivas, así como etiquetas verdes, principalmente en los sectores florícola, camaronero, maderero y turístico como un mecanismo para compatibilizar las aspiraciones de comercio y de protección ambiental;

• Fortalecer los sistemas de control y monitoreo ambiental de las entidades nacionales y seccionales, y desarrollar políticas de comando - control que sean evaluadas periódicamente;

• Adoptar procesos productivos con tecnologías ambientalmente amigables que permitan un adecuado manejo de los desechos sólidos y líquidos, el reciclaje de agua y el control del uso de químicos. A su vez, crear programas de capacitación y transferencia de tecnología limpia y herramientas de acceso a los mismos;

• Fomentar políticas de ordenamiento territorial y de regulación de concesiones para empresas camaroneras y mineras, considerando que estas actividades alteran drásticamente los ecosistemas y la forma de vida de las poblaciones;

• A nivel de incentivos, se plantea promover subsidios verdes que financien la certificación ambiental o social sobre todo en el sector florícola, mientras que en el maderero se debe considerar la reducción de impuestos para importación de materia prima.

Aaron Cosbey is an associate and senior advisor with the Winnipeg-based International Institute for Sustainable Development, and the author of A Sustainable Development Roadmap for the WTO.

For more information, please contact IISD media and communication officer, Nona Pelletier Phone: +1-(204)-958-7740, Cell: +1-(204)-962-1303.

Namibia has recently undertaken a rapid trade and environment assessment, which identified potential green opportunities and likely threats from international trade law and technical standards. The assessment has ignited national debate among stakeholders from the often unconnected sectors of international trade, environment, agriculture, water, energy, tourism and others. The rapid assessment is the start of a process of greater collaboration between these previously distinct sectors, which will have the opportunity to collaborate to a greater extent in the future. Namibia's economy cannot compete with neighbouring South Africa's economic and infrastructural advantages, but the country can excel in some high-value niche areas, depending on how policy-makers plan ahead.

Namibia's vast, unpolluted environment and sound conservation achievements, including the world-leading Community-Based Natural Resource Management program, provide a competitive edge in markets where green labelling, eco-certification and fair trade schemes apply. However, these instruments are double-edged swords when they become requirements for market entry. The cost of obtaining certification can result in Namibian goods becoming uncompetitive. This policy brief highlights opportunities and areas for further attention and follow-up in the green labelling and eco-certification sectors.

Key findings:

• Eco-certification is already used to some extent in Namibia, largely because of export market requirements.

• Commercial operators driving the green-and-ethical trend respond to market demands from (mainly Western) consumers, who are in turn influenced by environmental campaigners, non-governmental organizations and the media. These demands are not easily addressed at the level of international trade negotiations.

• To make the most of the opportunities and effectively manage the threats, Namibia must develop leadership and competence in the areas covered by eco-certification schemes, so that its products remain competitive and keep up with trends in rapidly evolving export markets.

• Developing certification capacity in local institutions may lower the costs and complications associated with current eco-certification schemes. However, "self-certification" schemes from developing countries have not had very much success commercially, because consumers do not trust them to be independent.

Key recommendations:

• Adopt credible eco-labels that conform to new and impending market requirements.

• Explore capacity-building opportunities in eco-labelling by making full use of international opportunities.

• Support initiatives by private sector organizations such as the Namibian Organic Association to create local eco-labels; explore possibilities for creating and adopting a national eco-label and provide for promoting the label in target markets.

• Always make education and public awareness a priority for any policy initiative to be accepted and adopted.

• Take steps to reduce the cost of certification. Encourage producers to form cooperatives or otherwise pool resources for certification. Develop mechanisms that can be used to bring small and medium-sized enterprises into such schemes without compromising the standards.

• Explore branding strategies for indigenous Namibian natural products.

Namibia has recently undertaken a rapid trade and environment assessment, which identified potential green opportunities and likely threats from international trade law and technical standards. The assessment has ignited national debate among stakeholders from the often unconnected sectors of international trade, environment, agriculture, water, energy, tourism and others. The rapid assessment is the start of a process of greater collaboration between these previously distinct sectors, which will have the opportunity to collaborate to a greater extent in the future. Namibia's economy cannot compete with neighbouring South Africa's economic and infrastructural advantages, but the country can excel in some high-value niche areas, depending on how policy-makers plan ahead.

Harmonizing Namibia's animal health policies with the European Union's sanitary requirements for importation of fresh red meat into the EU market has great potential to contribute to national economic growth through increased foreign exchange earnings and household incomes. This policy brief highlights opportunities and areas for further attention and follow-up in the red meat sector.

Key findings:

• Livestock production is the main activity in Namibia's agricultural sector, constituting approximately 85% of agricultural income and, on average, close to 9% of GNP.

• Facilitation of red meat exports is considered one of the major avenues for creating wealth and raising standards of living.

• Importation of red meat into the European Union is limited to clearly defined and delineated geographic zones where the veterinary authorities certify livestock as free from foot-and-mouth disease and rinderpest.

• Regulations developed for the EU countries' agricultural industry are not necessarily best-suited or relevant to a drylands, rural, African development context.

Key recommendations:

• Namibia needs close integration of land-use planning, conservation efforts and animal health policies related to foot-and-mouth-disease control in order to maximize the benefits from diverse land-use systems.

• Policies and strategies to promote red meat exports must not fixate on creating disease-free zones in a manner that sacrifices other livelihoods that are based on utilization of wildlife resources.

• Due to high competition for low-productivity rangelands in the northern regions, utilization of transboundary grazing resources may continue to be one of the main strategies for sustaining livestock densities in these areas for the foreseeable future. As a consequence, Angola and Namibia must consider developing a transboundary animal disease risk-management zone straddling the border between the two countries.

• Efforts to broaden marketing opportunities for livestock farmers in the northern regions by harmonizing sanitary measures with the import requirements of lucrative red meat export markets including the European Union must not be limited to animal health.

• Management of the interface between livestock and wildlife must be guided by risk assessments based on sound science.

• Namibia, singly or as part of the regional bloc, should actively participate in the formulation of international animal health standards, particularly those related to international trade in fresh and frozen meat.

Namibia has recently undertaken a rapid trade and environment assessment, which identified potential green opportunities and likely threats from international trade law and technical standards. The assessment has ignited national debate among stakeholders from the often unconnected sectors of international trade, environment, agriculture, water, energy, tourism and others. The rapid assessment is the start of a process of greater collaboration between these previously distinct sectors, which will have the opportunity to collaborate to a greater extent in the future. Namibia's economy cannot compete with neighbouring South Africa's economic and infrastructural advantages, but the country can excel in some high-value niche areas, depending on how policy-makers plan ahead.

International tourists (especially those from Europe, Namibia's main source market) are increasingly becoming aware of issues related to climate change and global warming. Recent studies conducted in Namibia suggest that though the tourism resource itself may be directly impacted by climate change, climate change is highly likely to have an indirect impact on tourism, primarily linked to tourists' concerns over the contribution of their trips to global warming. Without action, these fears could result in deterioration of the Namibian tourism economy. This policy brief highlights opportunities and areas for further attention and follow-up in the tourism sector.

Key findings:

• Namibia possesses a world-class tourism resource-both natural and cultural. However, in order to capitalize on this and create a comparative advantage over other destinations, it is important that the tourism sector ensures it is fully aligned with emerging market demand and, in particular, consumer concerns about global warming.

• Namibia is at a turning point for the future of the tourism sector and its response to climate change. This is made more important by the current global economic downturn. If the sector decides to continue with business as usual, there is a real possibility that Namibia will lose its market share and the sector will decline. If, however, the country makes a concerted and collaborative effort to embrace change and take advantage of the opportunities presented by climate change, the country has the potential to develop as a world-leading tourism destination.

Key recommendations:

• Make all tourism products able to demonstrate that they have a high level of sustainable environmental management, make a contribution to conservation and minimize greenhouse gas emissions (or, better still, become carbon neutral). Ensure they contribute toward economic development and, more specifically, poverty alleviation.

• Create a national policy on climate change and tourism that provides a framework and direction for addressing climate change issues related to tourism, including guidelines related to voluntary carbon-offset products.

• Ensure that existing policies and bodies such as the Tourism Policy, the Namibia Tourism Board, the Environmental Management Act and national development plans include tourism-related climate change issues.

• Ensure that the investment environment encourages investment in communal areas and, in particular, partnerships with conservancies and communities, with an emphasis on appropriate technologies-especially those that conserve water and lead to a reduction in carbon emissions.

• Actively promote appropriate technology and, in particular, carbon emissions reductions, and encourage the private sector to do the same.

• Actively raise awareness of climate change implications for tourism.

• Highlight the need for accuracy of tourism growth targets in light of climate change implications.

• Establish a national body, coalition or reference group to provide expertise and guidance to oversee the quality control of development of carbon-neutral and carbon-offset products.

Namibia has recently undertaken a rapid trade and environment assessment, which identified potential green opportunities and likely threats from international trade law and technical standards. The assessment has ignited national debate among stakeholders from the often unconnected sectors of international trade, environment, agriculture, water, energy, tourism and others. The rapid assessment is the start of a process of greater collaboration between these previously distinct sectors, which will have the opportunity to collaborate to a greater extent in the future. Namibia's economy cannot compete with neighbouring South Africa's economic and infrastructural advantages, but the country can excel in some high-value niche areas depending on how policy-makers plan ahead.

Considerable portions of Namibia's natural rangelands are encroached by invader bush-a phenomenon that is recognized as a form of land degradation. Yet the bush resource also sequesters significant amounts of carbon dioxide, rendering Namibia a net carbon sink. While many farmers consider bush an expensive nuisance that needs to be eradicated, projects using bush and its derivative products could potentially earn carbon credits. This policy brief highlights opportunities and areas for further attention and follow-up in the biochar sector.

Key findings:

• Presently, carbon sequestration and associated trading mechanisms from improved rangeland and soil-management practices, including the use of biochar, are being discussed in a variety of international forums. However, numerous research and procedural gaps remain before biochar can generate carbon revenues.

• No Namibian policy or guideline incentivizes or regulates the development of carbon offsets or carbon sequestration through rangeland management.

Key recommendations:

• Strengthen institutional capacity.
• Prepare and train Namibian negotiators attending international forums.
• Involve private sector specialists and stakeholders.
• Support research and specialist studies.
• Devise a bush-utilization and -beneficiation framework.
• Provide seed funds to stimulate carbon-project development.
• Assess costs and benefits of charcoal use in Namibia.

Namibia has recently undertaken a rapid trade and environment assessment, which identified potential green opportunities and likely threats from international trade law and technical standards. The assessment has ignited national debate among stakeholders from the often unconnected sectors of international trade, environment, agriculture, water, energy, tourism and others. The rapid assessment is the start of a process of greater collaboration between these previously distinct sectors, which will have the opportunity to collaborate to a greater extent in the future. Namibia's economy cannot compete with neighbouring South Africa's economic and infrastructural advantages, but the country can excel in some high-value niche areas, depending on how policy-makers plan ahead. This policy brief highlights opportunities and areas for further attention and follow-up.

Key findings:

• Namibia can achieve the wealth and well-being objectives of its Vision 2030 if decision-makers do not expect Namibia's development to look like the Western or South African industrialization and bulk-export model. A proven, smarter strategy is to capitalize on Namibia's demonstrated comparative advantages in high-value niche sectors for specialized products and services.

• Many good efforts in ecotourism and natural products development, for example, are already underway.

• Namibia continues to forego many opportunities in the formal and informal carbon market.

• Namibia would benefit from appointing a technical body and/or champion (such as in the Namibian Standards Institute) to monitor international market and labelling developments and communicate updates to relevant stakeholders, including the private sector.

• Namibia needs to address conflict between the rural development imperative, sustainable land management, and commercial meat exports through harmonized policies.

• Government agencies negotiating international policies that can negate each other's efforts need to coordinate.

Key recommendations:

• Policy-makers need to look at creating incentives for markets in unique, specialized products.

• Namibia should establish a national forum on trade and environment issues to continue work in areas highlighted by the assessment.

• Namibia needs more appropriate carbon-market mechanisms that support sustainable land management and rural development (so-called co-benefits).

• The government should commit resources to prepare and train Namibian negotiators attending international forums on the diversity of relevant domestic policy considerations.

This report analyses the potential for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to function as a development-oriented organization. It departs from the developmental regionalism analysis that is currently emerging in the literature on regional integration. In the context of Southeast Asia such an analysis has been limited and can be further developed. The report focuses on ASEANs economic integration initiatives and the extent to which they help advance its stated sustainable development objectives in the areas of poverty reduction, rural development, social protection and the environment.

Key findings:

• While the region has seen significant economic growth, accompanied by a consistent rise in real per capita incomes over the past few years, poverty and the unequal distribution of income remain key problems.

• Although ASEAN member states consider development and developmental regionalism important components of existing ASEAN regional economic integration initiatives, the extent to which the implementation of these initiatives reflects the developmental needs of the people in the region remains debatable.

Key recommendations:

• Develop a balance between ASEANs desire to adopt the principle of open regionalism and the organizations imperative of lifting millions out of poverty.

• Ensure member countries provide the necessary political and economic commitments, such as an adequate social safety net, for the full implementation of their socio-economic initiatives to minimize the impacts of economic globalization and regionalization.

• Reform the outdated principle of non-interference, which often hinders the progress of economic advancement in the region. This is crucial to the attainment of the organizations economic development goals. Poverty is a collective concern for all the member countries and as such could be better tackled collectively by ASEAN members.

• Find ways to empower marginalized economic groups. In practice this might involve the recognition of the non-professional migrant labourers who are hired for the majority of inter-state employment in the region.

• Encourage the emergence of economic solidarity in the region by developing economic complementarities among the regions economies and ensuring common regional policies and positions in wider multilateral forums.

• Democratize the economic policy-making process by improving the quantity and quality of engagement between policy-makers and regional stakeholders.

"BellagioSTAMP enables true accountability in governance and management for sustainable development, by addressing the totality of the assessment process," said László Pintér, director of the Measurement and Assessment program at IISD, one of the main architects of BellagioSTAMP.

The need for a new system of measurement and assessment is driven by unprecedented and concurrent crises to climate, food, health, energy and the economy and the need to respond to even greater challenges ahead.

"Despite the high and growing costs of unsustainable development, our ability to identify and measure risks and capitalize on opportunities is weak," Pintér said.

BellagioSTAMP can be used to review the adequacy of existing measurement and assessment practices or to guide the development of new initiatives. The principles offer flexibility in the choice of design of indicators, and how they are interpreted, communicated and used.

"BellagioSTAMP’s power is its simplicity and ability to capture and distill complex concepts and issues."

For more information, please contact László Pintér, Ph.D., director IISD Measurement and Assessment, lpinter@iisd.ca, or IISD media and communication officer, Nona Pelletier Phone: +1-(204)-958-7740, Cell: +1-(204)-962-1303.

About BellagioSTAMP (SusTainability Assessment and Measurement Principles)

A first set of Bellagio Principles for assessing progress toward sustainability was published in 1996 and was subsequently used by local and international organizations in sustainability assessments. Though successful, new assessment methods and sustainability challenges overtook the original principles. As with the original set, BellagioSTAMP has been established by a group of international experts meeting in Bellagio, Italy, organized by IISD and the OECD’s Measuring the Progress of Societies initiative.

About the Conference

Third OECD World Forum on "Statistics, Knowledge and Policy" Charting Progress, Building Visions, Improving Life (PDF - 485 kb) focuses on three questions: What does progress mean for our societies?; What are the new paradigms to measure progress?; and How can there be better policies within these new paradigms to foster the progress of our societies?

About IISD

The International Institute for Sustainable Development contributes to sustainable development by advancing policy recommendations on international trade and investment, economic policy, climate change and energy, measurement and assessment, and natural resources management, and the enabling role of communication technologies in these areas. We report on international negotiations and disseminate knowledge gained through collaborative projects, resulting in more rigorous research, capacity building in developing countries, better networks spanning the North and the South, and better global connections among researchers, practitioners, citizens and policy-makers.

Accessing water for the common good is the theme of next week's annual meeting, which brings together experts, practitioners, decision makers and leaders from around the world to exchange ideas and foster new thinking to address the planet's most urgent water-related issues.

This year's meeting will have a special focus on transboundary water issues, which can become a source of conflict, particularly in areas experiencing water stress. But transboundary issues can also be a catalyst for build peace building, according to Henry David (Hank) Venema, Director of IISD's Sustainable Natural Resources Management program and Water Innovation Centre, based within North America's Red River Basin.

“We have found that multiple jurisdictions within a transboundary basin can find common ground in dialogue about the environment. There is a greater degree of cooperation when people understand that the ecosystem services of a watershed have considerable value, beyond applications for navigation or water supply,” Venema said.

“There are many examples of transboundary organizations around the world that have succeeded in diffusing tensions by working for the common good.”

Venema said IISD's newly established Water Innovation Centre is developing policies and processes to support the work of transboundary organizations, particularly in North America's vast Lake Winnipeg Watershed, which is nearly one million square kilometres, and home to more than 5.5 million people, in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Alberta, as well as the U.S. states of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana.

Lake Winnipeg is the tenth largest freshwater lake in the world, and also one of the most eutrophic, fed by the nutrient-rich waters of the Winnipeg, Saskatchewan, and Red rivers. Compared with other great lakes in the world, particularly the North American Great Lakes, Lake Winnipeg has received surprisingly little scientific attention until the past decade.

“We have a lot to learn, but our work will help us develop policies and processes to improve the management of other transboundary river basins,” he said.

WINNIPEG—July 13, 2009—Commentary on the unprecedented pace of change over the past year or so is the theme of Sustaining Excellence—the 2008/09 annual report of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, for the year ended March 31, 2009.

The report features commentary from leaders for sustainable development, including an essay on the Green Economy by Achim Steiner, UN under-secretary general and UNEP executive director.

"The Green Economy Initiative is . . . a real and tangible opportunity to achieve the transformative and comprehensive change that will allow six to nine billion people to live together prosperously, productively and peacefully in years to come," Steiner says.

IISD's trade and investment director Mark Halle writes about government accountability in What Happens Between Promise and Delivery?

"It has become a priority for those of us fighting for sustainable development to turn our attention to designing accountability mechanisms that work," Halle says, adding that it is necessary to review what has worked well in the past, as incentives to achieve compliance and delivery on promises.

Halle also offers a review of IISD's trade and investment program, and makes the following observation: "Each of our program's three pillars—trade, investment and subsidies—is not only central to the current predicament, but central to getting out of it."

IISD's director of climate change and energy John Drexhage offers a forecast on the prospects of an international agreement on climate change at the high level conference to be held in Copenhagen later this year.

"Let me say this at the outset: if an agreement is reached at Copenhagen, it will almost certainly not be in the form of a comprehensive agreement. . . That much became clear in the aftermath of the negotiations held in Bonn early June."

These are just some of the topics covered in this review of the institute's most recent work, which includes a photo essay on promoting conflict-sensitive conservation in Africa, as well as highlights from IISD's six programs: Trade and Investment; Sustainable Natural Resources Management; Measurement and Assessment; Climate Change and Energy; Global Connectivity; and Reporting Services.

The report is available in French (PDF - 3 mb) and English (PDF - 3 mb).

For more information, please contact IISD media and communication officer, Nona Pelletier Phone: +1-(204)-958-7740, Cell: +1-(204)-962-1303.

Canada Treasury Board President Vic Toews announced the release of funding by Environment Canada for 14 projects under the Lake Winnipeg Basin Initiatives involving two projects managed by IISD's new Water Innovation Centre (WIC), headed up by Henry David (Hank) Venema.

Lake Winnipeg is fed by a vast water basin covering 960,000 square kilometres extending over four provinces and four U.S. states. The problems facing the lake are the result of excessive phosphorus and nitrogen from agricultural, municipal and natural sources ending up in the lake. More than half of these nutrients originate outside Manitoba's borders.

"The problems with Lake Winnipeg are compelling and complex," Venema said, adding that the transboundary issues alone are an important dynamic in reducing pollution in Manitoba's largest lake.

The Environment Canada funding will accelerate two key WIC projects—one concerning the restoration of Netley-Libau Marsh. The other, in partnership with the Red River Basin Commission, concerns multi-purpose land and water investments that produce nutrient and flood reduction benefits.

"The proximity of the Water Innovation Centre to Lake Winnipeg in essence offers a dynamic and living laboratory where we can test new innovative water management strategies and policies that offer valuable lessons for similar circumstances in many other parts of the world," Venema said.

About WIC and IISD

The Water Innovation Centre will develop, communicate, and help implement an integrated Lake Winnipeg Basin strategy based on natural capital and integrated water resources management principles. The Centre will respect the mandates of other water-related agencies, take into account the importance of regional initiatives and provide technical, logistical, and policy support to federal and provincial agencies, community groups and municipalities.

Since 2004, IISD has conducted seminal analyses on Prairie watershed issues, identifying the Lake Winnipeg watershed as ecologically vulnerable. Our work in ecosystem service and community management assessments, as well as our pioneering efforts in ecological engineering approaches to Lake Winnipeg Stewardship—paved the way for the Water Innovation Centre.

For more information, please contact Henry David (Hank) Venema Phone: +1-(204)-958-7706 or IISD media and communication officer, Nona Pelletier Phone: +1-(204)-958-7740, Cell: +1-(204)-962-1303.

The two-day meeting began with the appointment of three new members to the board, replacing Laxanachantorn Laohaphan, Khawar Mumtaz, and Mohamed Sahnoun who retire after many years of dedication, hard work and outstanding commitment to sustainability and the vision and mission of IISD. Mohamed Sahnoun becomes a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute, as well as former chairman of the board Jacques Gérin.

Board member Stephanie Cairns is also stepping down to lead the search for the new president and CEO to replace David Runnalls, who is retiring in 2010 after a decade in the position.

The new board members and fellows offer a wealth of sustainable development experience in the fields of education, governance, business and the environment.

"Isabelle Hudon, Papa Kwesi Nduom and Erna Witoelar are renowned leaders and bring considerable experience to IISD," said board chair Dan Gagnier.

With the addition of these new directors, there are now 20 members of the board, representing nine countries. IISD's board of directors meets twice a year.

New members of the board:

• Isabelle Hudon is President of Montreal ad agency Marketel. She was previously President and CEO of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal. Currently, she is Chair of the Board of the Université du Québec à Montréal, the Société du Havre de Montréal and the Fondation les petits trésors of the Rivière-des-Prairies Hospital. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of Aéroports de Montréal and Holt Renfrew Canada. She was part of Canada's Top 40 Under 40 2005 roster, and honored in 2006 as one of Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100.

• Papa Kwesi Nduom is a renowned entrepreneur in Ghana. He owns hotels in Accra and Elmina and has been a board member of the Ghana Heritage Conservation Trust. He has been Ghana’s Minister for Energy and was a presidential candidate in 2008. He worked his way through the University of Wisconsin, where he earned his Ph.D. in Service Delivery Systems.

• Erna Witoelar is Indonesia’s UN Special Ambassador for the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific. She was the former Minister of Human Settlements and Regional Development (1999-2001) and a former member of the National Assembly of Indonesia. She currently serves as chairperson of the Indonesia Biodiversity Foundation (KEHATI), co-chair of the Partnership for Governance Reform in Indonesia, and an Earth Charter Commissioner (based in Costa Rica). Before joining the government, she pursued a long career in civil society. She is a board member of several civil society organizations at national and international levels, including chair of the YIPD (Foundation for Local Governance Innovation), and advisor to the Indonesian Association of Municipalities and Association of Districts.

About IISD

International Institute for Sustainable Development is a Canadian-based not-for-profit organization with a team of 60 employees based in Winnipeg (our head office), Ottawa, Geneva and New York and an additional 90 interns, writers, and researchers in 30 countries around the world. At its core, IISD supports the integration of economic, social and environmental considerations into decision-making. Its vision is better living for all—sustainably; its mission, to champion innovation, enabling societies to live sustainably.

For more information, please contact Nona Pelletier, IISD media and communications officer, phone: +1 (204) 958-7740 or cell: +1 (204) 962-1303.

Climate models are predicting a hotter, drier and less predictable climate in the Middle East—a region already considered the world's most water scarce and where, in many places, demand for water already outstrips supply. For Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, climate change threatens to reduce the availability of scarce water resources, increase food insecurity, hinder economic growth and lead to large scale population movements. This could hold serious implications for peace in the region, according to the report.

Rising Temperatures, Rising Tensions: Climate change and the risk of violent conflict in the Middle East (PDF - 4.4 mb) is the latest report on the links between climate change, peace and conflict by IISD, an independent Canadian policy think tank. Drawn from extensive consultations and workshops throughout the region, augmented by desk research, the report makes three key points:

• The legacy of conflict in the countries of the Levant undermines the ability of countries and communities in the region to adapt to climate change. The history of hostility and mistrust in the region greatly complicates efforts to collaborate over shared resources, to invest in more efficient water and energy use, to share new ways to adapt to climate change and to pursue truly multilateral action on climate change. Ultimately, climate change presents an even more serious challenge than it would otherwise.

• The report shows that climate change itself poses real security concerns to the region. It may increase competition for scarce water resources, complicating peace agreements. It may intensify food insecurity, thereby raising the stakes for the return or retention of occupied land. It may hinder economic growth, worsening poverty and social instability. It could lead to destabilizing forced migration, increased tensions over refugee populations, the increased militarization of strategic natural resources and growing resentment and distrust of the West.

• Nevertheless, the report points out there is much that national governments and authorities, civil society and the international community can do address the challenge of climate change, and in so doing, address some of the threats it may pose to regional peace and security. They can promote a culture of conservation in the region, help communities and countries adapt to the impacts of climate change, work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and foster greater cooperation on their shared resources.

Note to Editors:

For more information on preparations for the Climate Summit in Copenhagen in December 2009, see http://www.en.Cop15.dk

More of IISD's work on environmental change and security can be found at here.

For more information please contact the authors:

Oli Brown (obrown@iisd.org) or Alec Crawford (acrawford@iisd.org)

For additional information or assistance please contact:

• Nona Pelletier
  IISD Winnipeg
  Phone: +1 (204) 958-7740
  Cell: +1 (204) 962-1303
  E-mail: npelletier@iisd.ca

• Damon Vis-Dunbar
  IISD Geneva
  Phone: +41 (22) 917-8748
  Cell: +41 (78) 818-0501
  E-mail: dvis-dunbar@iisd.org

GENERata builds on this standard of excellence with a new interactive framework to help users draw knowledge from the vast database of resources on a wide-range of sustainable development issues. There are over 44,000 sources referenced in the online catalogue.

Since its inception, IISD's virtual library has been building the world's best collection of materials to describe a world of sustainable development. It is one of the few specialized public libraries with a collection focused on the environment and how it links to human interaction.

“GENERata brings together the best thinking on sustainable development,” said Marlene Roy, manager of IISD'S Research and Learning Resources.

“It is a brain trust. It is part of our ongoing commitment to offer the most comprehensive information and knowledge on issues and trends related to sustainable development. Our collection is virtually accessible to everyone—24/7.”

GENERata will also focus on the world's Thought Leaders with a series of interviews on those individuals with the knowledge and wisdom to offer guidance and insight on the world's urgent challenges.

GENERata is an excellent resource for everyone interested in issues related to sustainable development, particularly researchers, journalists and a new generation of content creators.

MORE ABOUT GENERata and IISD's Research Library

GENERata keeps you up-to-date on sustainable development issues, trends and insights from creative thinkers. It takes the best information and transforms it into knowledge, showcases ideas and captures the past to inform the future. And for those wanting to delve further into topics, there is an entire Knowledge Finder section to guide you.

GENERata is produced by IISD's Research Library, one of the few libraries worldwide with a sustainable development focus and ‘24-7' access through its on-line catalogue-SD-Cite. It aims to ignite discovery, exploration, innovation and collaboration. With sustainable development aims becoming more urgent, filtering vast amounts of information and making sense of it has become critical for solving difficult problems.

To achieve these aims, the Research Library has developed a number of products and services including SD-Cite on-line catalogue, Weekly Journal Review, Reference services and maintaining a print and electronic collection as well as GENERata.

IISD's Research Library specifically locates, organizes and provides access to knowledge about:

• Sustainable development policy and its theoretical underpinnings
• General works on the relationship between environment and development
• Ecological and environmental economics
• Poverty links to environment
• Human development and well-being
• Biodiversity and conservation
• Ecosystem goods and services
• International sustainable development negotiations, regimes and decision-making
• Environmental governance and multilateral environmental agreements
• Energy and climate change policy
• Trade and foreign direct investment policy and links to sustainable development
• Natural resources management and policy
• Integrated assessment
• Measurement and indicators of sustainable development
• Environment and security
• Sustainable agriculture
• Watershed management and policy

Biofuels - At what cost? Government support for ethanol and biodiesel in Canada (PDF - 3.4 mb) is the latest in a series of reports addressing subsidies for biofuels in Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, Indonesia, Malaysia, Switzerland and the United States. The report provides the most comprehensive quantification to date of the amount of public money being spent to support ethanol and biodiesel, as well as analysis on whether it presents good value for Canadian taxpayers.

"Public subsidies for biofuels have been justified on their environmental merits, as well as the economic boost they provide to rural economies," said IISD associate Stephan Barg. "However, our research shows that these policies are an extremely expensive and inefficient way to conserve fossil fuels and reduce GHG emissions."

The comprehensive study found a growing array of subsidy programs at the federal, provincial, and even municipal levels that support nearly every stage of the biofuels supply chain, from research and development, business planning, through construction of plants, production of biofuels, marketing and purchase of vehicles capable of using the fuels.

In the three-year period ended 2008, total transfers to biofuels approached $1 billion, with an average of around $300 million per year. The subsidies accounted for 20 to 70 per cent of the retail market prices for the biofuels.

While transfer payments are levelling off, ethanol from corn (maize), the most common product in Canada, requires subsidies of between $0.50 and $0.70 a litre to replace an equivalent litre of fossil energy-enough to purchase the displaced fuels with the subsidy alone.

"Subsidizing biofuel production is clearly an expensive way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To remove one tonne of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere via corn- or wheat-based ethanol costs between $200 and $400. By comparison, one tonne of CO2 reductions cost $4.25 on the Chicago Climate Exchange or $33.85 on the European Climate Exchange," Barg said.

"Therefore, the Canadian government could remove up to 100 times more carbon from the atmosphere simply by purchasing emission reductions on the market. The numbers are similar for biodiesel, with subsidies costing between 6 and 137 times more to reduce a tonne of CO2 then purchasing carbon offsets."

The report was written by Tara Laan, Todd Alexander Litman, Ron Steenblik

Nairobi, February 20, 2009 – Intrastate conflicts are likely to drag on and escalate without a greater focus on environment and natural resources in the peacebuilding process, according to a new report launched today by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The report is co-authored by IISD senior fellow Richard Matthew, IISD program manager Oli Brown and David Jensen of UNEP's Post-Conflict and Disaster Management Branch (PCDMB).

For more information, please download UNEP's media release (PDF - 99 kb) and read the report
(PDF - 1 mb).

There are concerns that overly restrictive government-imposed requirements to gain access to biological resources for academic research have become so burdensome that it is stifling international collaboration and benefit sharing between developed and less developed nations.

International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) associates and Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) writers and editors Stefan Jungcurt and Sikina Jinnah, who have been reporting on the issue for some years, have noted the near absence of academics and have appealed to the scientific community to become more actively involved in the negotiations.

In an article published in the January 23, 2009 issue of Science Magazine, the ENB reporters have outlined a number of issues where there is a lack of consensus in the negotiations, which should be of particular concern to scientists.

"This is an opportunity for scientific professional organizations, such as the Society for Conservation Biology, to pool member experience and to prepare a paper on, for example, experiences with overly restrictive access requirements, such as those faced by entomologists in India, when a collaborative project to study the insects of the Western Ghats was derailed by the Indian National Biodiversity Authority for biopiracy concerns," the authors said.

They point to numerous examples where scientists have been denied access to biological resources needed for academic research, or even jailed for lacking the appropriate permits for possession.

The aim of the CBD isn't just to conserve biological diversity, but to also address sustainable development and conservation issues. However, the window for input by the scientific community is quickly closing as negotiations are expected to conclude in 2010.

"Industry, environmental and indigenous organizations are certain to continue making their voices heard. Why not academics too," Jinnah and Jungcurt said, adding that the ENB provides daily coverage of what is discussed at the meetings as well as a summary and analysis of the meetings' outcomes. CBD webpage on ABS.

The Science Magazine article is available by subscription at http://www.sciencemag.org/, or can be accessed at EurekAlert http://www.eurekalert.org/ by registered members.

Please contact the authors by email for comment or to arrange interviews.

Stefan Jungcurt is available for interviews in English, French or German: stefan@iisd.org

Sikina Jinnah: Sikina_Jinnah@brown.edu

For additional assistance or information please contact:

• Nona Pelletier, Winnipeg
  Phone: +1 (204) 958-7740
  Cell: +1 (204) 962-1303
  E-mail: npelletier@iisd.ca
  Skype: Nona Pelletier