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PROGRAMA DE DERECHO AMBIENTAL DE UICN EN ARGENTINA
27 Junio 2003
 La FARN (Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales) y el Centro de Derecho Ambiental tuvieron una constructiva reunión de trabajo en Buenos Aires. El objetivo de esta reunión, a la cual asistieron María Eugenia Di Paola (Directora del Area de Investigación y Capacitación) y Alejandro Iza (Centro de Derecho Ambiental) fue evaluar las áreas de cooperación entre ambas instituciones en el marco del Programa de Derecho Ambiental de la UICN. Entre dichas áreas figura ante todo el fortalecimiento de las capacidades en materia de derecho ambiental, la organización de un encuentro regional de magistrados sobre aplicación y cumplimiento de normas ambientales y la organización de una serie de talleres sobre presupuestos mínimos ambientales.
Para ver las conclusiones de los talleres de presupuestos mínimos haga un click aquí.
Inglés/English
UN CORREDOR DE HUMEDALES EN EL RÍO PARANÁ
26 Junio 2003
 Autoridades de la Fundación Proteger se reunieron con el Dr. Alejandro Iza del Centro de Derecho Ambiental para discutir los avances en la creación de un corredor de humedales en los ríos Paraguay y Paraná. Este corredor, el más grande del mundo en su tipo, es una iniciativa de Proteger que cuenta con el apoyo de WWF, Wetlands International y la Convención Ramsar. Comprende, hasta el momento, las provincias argentinas de Entre Ríos, Santa Fé, Corrientes, Formosa, Chaco y Misiones. El próximo mes de septiembre tendrá lugar el Seminario Internacional sobre el Manejo de Humedales en América Latina, donde se tratarán una amplia gama de temas vinculados con el manejo de humedales en la región y al cual asistirá el Programa de Derecho Ambiental.
Para mayor información sobre este evento consultar aquí.
Inglés/English
AMÉRICA LATINA DISCUTE EL FUTURO DE LAS CUENCAS EN AREQUIPA
25 Junio 2003
 El Programa de Derecho Ambiental estuvo presente, junto a UICN-ORMA y UICN-SUR en el Tercer Congreso Latinoamericano de Manejo de Cuencas Hidrográficas, que se celebró en Arequipa entre el 8 y el 13 de junio de 2003. El Congreso trató, entre otros, temas de legislación, instrumentos financieros, el rol de las comunidades indígenas, pago por servicios ambientales, manejo integrado, participación comunitaria, estrategias y políticas nacionales y cuencas compartidas. Dentro del simposio sobre cuencas transfronterizas, elCentro de Derecho Ambiental a través del Dr. Alejandro Iza realizó una presentación sobre los Aspectos Jurídicos de los Caudales Ecológicos en Cuencas Compartidas. Esta presentación, a la cual asistieron alrededor de 100 personas, generó gran interés e inquietud en los participantes con el fin de recibir orientaciones sobre los marcos jurídicos adecuados para una gestión integral de cuencas compartidas entre dos o más estados y la inclusión de los caudales ecológicos dentro de ellas.
Para acceder al texto de la presentación haga un click aquí.
Inglés/English
NEW EPLP "GUIDE" BEING DEVELOPED
20 June 2003
 Following closely on the success of IUCN's new Guide to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, the IUCN Environmental Law Centre is pleased to announce the next "Guide" in the series. Work has already commenced on the Guide to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which will be developed in collaboration with the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI). The International Treaty constitutes the first and one of the most important concrete steps in the development of the "international regime on access and benefit-sharing" required under the WSSD Plan of Implementation. It offers an easier, single-source approach to access, and an internationally overseen approach to benefit-sharing. Through this combination, it can achieve the goal that many national and regional ABS programmes are struggling for - practical implementability.
Full story
Find information on the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture here.
NEW CEL VICE CHAIR FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES LAW
19 June 2003
 Professor Paul Kuruk has been appointed to the newly created post of Vice Chair for Indigenous Peoples Law, an appointment confirmed by the IUCN Council at its last meeting held at IUCN Headquarters in Gland, Switzerland. Paul is one of the Co-Chairs of the CEL Specialist Group on Indigenous Peoples and Environmental Law and was unanimously recommended by the members of the Specialist Group's Steering Committee to the CEL Steering Committee. Paul, who is originally from Ghana, is a Professor of International Law, Intellectual Property Law and International Business Transactions at Cumberland School of Law of Sanford University in Birmingham, Alabama and is the Executive Director of the Center for Indigenous Knowledge Systems of the Institute for African Development. He also works as a consultant to a number of UN agencies, UNESCO and the World Intellectual Property Organization. Paul is now looking forward to participating in the IUCN CEL Steering Committee to promote the use of environmental law as a means of supporting indigenous rights.
InWent FELLOWS PRESENT THEIR FINDINGS
18 June 2003
 The four InWent Research Fellows from Costa Rica, Peru, The Philippines and Tunisia currently with the IUCN ELC have presented the findings of their research to an international group at the Environmental Law Centre, Bonn. Topics covered included the clean development mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol, legal mechanisms for the protection of the natural environment on private lands and mining and protected areas in five countries. Guests attending the session included Demetrio Polo-Cheva, Senior Project Manager, Environment Policy, InWent, Professor Alexandre Kiss and Dr Wolfgang Burhenne. The Fellows will now complete their written papers, copies of which will be published on the IUCN ELP Website. IUCN ELC is most grateful to InWent for its ongoing support of this significant and highly successful capacity building initiative.
Find the Programme here and details of IUCN ELC hosted fellowships and internships here.
NEW CEL REGIONAL VICE CHAIR FOR WEST ASIA
18 June 2003
 IUCN Council, which met from 2 to 4 June 2003 at IUCN Headquarters in Gland, Switzerland, has appointed Ms. Samar Malek Azar as the new CEL Regional Vice Chair for West Asia. The appointment was made upon the recommendation of the CEL Chair, which was unanimously supported by the CEL Steering Committee at its last meeting held in the Carpathian Mountains in the Ukraine from 15 to17 May 2003. Samar, who is Lebanese, is based in Beirut where she is a legal consultant at the Lebanese Ministry of Environment. During the last two years she has been participating in high-level decision making on issues regarding environmental legislation in Lebanon. Samar has been actively engaged in working for the ratification of international agreements and protocols by Lebanon. She speaks fluent Arabic, French and English and has extensive experience in commercial and contracts law. Samar has pledged to focus her efforts within the IUCN CEL on the development of environmental legislation in her region.
IUCN ELP MEETS WITH ANDEAN COMMUNITY SECRETARIAT
12 June 2003
 IUCN ELP has met with legal officers from the Secretariat of the Andean Community in Lima, Peru. IUCN, represented by Dr Jorge Caillaux, IUCN CEL Regional Vice Chair for South America, and John Scanlon, Head of the IUCN ELP, discussed many issues of common interest, including legal aspects of access and benefit sharing, water (and sanitation) and biosafety. These highly constructive discussions will be followed through over the coming months through the development of potential collaborative work programmes and activities between the Secretariat and IUCN ELP. The Andean Community, whose beginnings can be traced back to 1969, is a sub regional organisation endowed with an international legal status, which is made up of Bolivia, Columbia, Equator, Peru and Venezuela and the bodies and institutions comprising the Andean Integration System. The key objectives of the Community include promoting the balanced and harmonious development of the member countries under equitable conditions.
Find Andean Community here.
IUCN ELP WORKING WITH PERUVIAN LAWYERS
12 June 2003
 IUCN ELP has been meeting in Lima, Peru with the Peruvian Environmental Law Society (SPDA), an IUCN member, and the Faculty of Law, Catholic University of Peru to discuss the content and further development of Peru's first Diploma in Environmental Law Studies. This Diploma course is being supported by SPDA, Avina and IUCN and will be taught at the Catholic University of Peru from August of this year. The Head of the ELP also participated in the launch of the publication 'El Caso Tahuamanu', co-authored by SPDA's Dr Jorge Caillaux and Carlos Chirinos. This case study presents valuable lessons for the international community and Peru on the enforcement of environmental laws through telling the story of litigation concerning allegations of illegal logging by Newman Lumber Company of Mississippi in the Districts of Inapari and Iberia, Madre de Dios, located in southeast Peru. An electronic copy of this publication is available from both the SPDA and IUCN ELP websites, and a hard copy can be obtained from the SPDA.
Find SPDA here and University meeting agenda here.
PUTTING THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE INTO PRACTICE
12 June 2003
 The precautionary principle is an approach to uncertainty - it states that action to protect the environment may be needed before scientific certainty of harm is established. It is being increasingly used in natural resource management but what does it mean in practice? Precaution has been adopted by a growing number of environmental agreements and policies. Yet guidance on when and how the precautionary principle should be applied is lacking. These and other questions are being tackled by the Precautionary Principle Project, a joint initiative of IUCN's Species Programme, Environmental Law Centre, Regional Office for Southern Africa, TRAFFIC, ResourceAfrica, and Fauna & Flora International. Today the team unveils a new website which provides background on the principle and the project's activities. The project team is keen to hear of on-the-ground experiences of the precautionary principle, ideas for case studies, examples of the principle in action, or from those simply wishing to join the listserv which provides updates on project outputs and activities. For more information contact here.
Full story
Find the Precautionary Principle Project here.
LAW: A NEW SOURCE OF ENERGY!
6 June 2003
 The groundbreaking IUCN ELP publication, "Energy Law and Sustainable Development", will be launched tonight at the 18th session of the Subsidiary Bodies to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Energy has recently emerged at the forefront of sustainable development. It was selected as one of the five major issues of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development and featured prominently in the Delhi Declaration on Climate Change and Sustainable Development (Decision 1/CP.8), adopted by the ministers present at the 8th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC. The book tackles the problems of the unsustainability of today's predominant forms of energy and use, points the way to a more sustainable future, and then outlines the legal means for getting there. Its chapters are written by leading experts in their fields and includes a message from Mrs Joke Waller-Hunter, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC. Prof Adrian J. Bradbrook and Dean Richard L. Ottinger, Vice-Chair and Chair, respectively, of the IUCN CEL Climate and Energy Law Specialist Group, edited the publication. It will be available from the World Conservation Bookstore in a few weeks.
IUCN Media Release English - German
For an electronic version of the book, click here.
WATER AS A HUMAN RIGHT?
WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 2003: 'Water: Two Billion People Are Dying For It'
 IUCN-ELC has presented a land mark paper on 'Water as a Human Right?' at the Law for a Green Planet Institute 'Law, Water and the Web of Life' 7th International Conference on Environmental Law being held in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The same paper was also pre released to judges from Western/Central/Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia, together with judges and experts from across the globe, at judges symposia held in Rome and Lviv last month. The IUCN-ELC paper comprises a comprehensive review of the current situation at global, regional and national levels and poses the question of whether a human right to water may help to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals for water and sanitation. The paper was prepared by IUCN-ELC, with input from CEL members, to help facilitate further discussion and consideration on this issue during 2003, being the UN International Year of Freshwater.
'Water as a Human Right?' - Full Paper - Summary Fact Sheet
BRAZILIAN LAWYERS PAY TRIBUTE TO DR PARVEZ HASSAN
4 June 2003
 IUCN Member, Law for a Green Planet Institute, has used the occasion of the 7th International Conference on Environmental Law, 'Law, Water and the Web of Life' to pay tribute to Dr Parvez Hassan for his 'vision, leadership and commitment to a sustainable world'. Dr Hassan was the Chair of the IUCN CEL from 1990 - 1996 and has continued to serve on the CEL Steering Committee since that time. Dr Hassan went on to establish, build and endow the Dr Parvez Hassan Environmental Law Centre, at Punjab University in his home town of Lahore, Pakistan (which was opened in February of this year). The conference also heard presentations from many IUCN CEL and ELC experts, including Dr Hassan, on human rights and water, comparative water governance, comparative water legal regimes and enforcement, and challenges to water conservation in common markets. IUCN was proud to co-sponsor this major international event.
Find Law for a Green Planet Institute here.
Inter-Regional Dialogue on the Clean Development Mechanism at the IUCN- ELC, Bonn
2 June 2003
 Climate change focal points from 15 countries in Africa and Latin America spent a long day at the IUCN-ELC to discuss the draft consolidated text on modalities and procedures for afforestation and reforestation activities under the clean development mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. The meeting was in preparation for the 18th sessions of the subsidiary bodies (SB 18) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be held in Bonn, which is to tackle the draft text. The draft consolidated text (FCCC/SBSTA/2003/4) was prepared by the UNFCCC secretariat on the basis of Parties' submissions, including those of African group and the Latin American group (consisting of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Uruguay), for which the IUCN-ELC provided technical support. The Food and Agriculture Organization, IUCN, and the United Nations Environment Programme convened the meeting.
Find the UNFCCC here.
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