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THE ABS PROJECT IN ACTION: PREPARING FOR THE GLOBAL ABS REGIME
18 December 2003
 Earlier this month the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) began the "next level" of negotiations regarding implementation of the concept of access to genetic resources and equitable sharing of the benefits from their utilisation (also known as ABS.) This current stage responds to the mandate of the last Conference of the Parties to the CBD and the CBD's Strategic Plan and Multi-year Programme of Work, as well as to the WSSD Programme of Implementation. Against this background, the ABS Project (a project of IUCN ELP, in conjunction with many partners, with funding by the German Ministry for Development (BMZ)), undertook a number of key activities, including (1) co-sponsorship with the University of Davis (USA) of a workshop addressing the ABS legislation and legislative needs of the Pacific Rim, (2) co-sponsorship with SPDA, INE and INRENA of a Latin American workshop on the concept of "certificates of origin" (or legal provenance) of genetic resources, and possible interfaces with CITES; and (3) formal participation in the CBD's Ad-hoc Working Group on Access and Benefit-sharing. All three events will ultimately produce major publications on various aspects of ABS.
Full Story. For more information on the ABS Project click here.
IUCN ACADEMY SECOND COLLOQUIM PLANS WELL UNDERWAY
16 December 2003
 "Plans for the Second Colloquium of the IUCN Academy to be held at the University of Nairobi from 4-10 October 2004 on 'Environmental Law and Land Use' are well advanced", said IUCN Commission on Environmental Law Chair, Professor Nicholas Robinson, following a meeting in Bonn with Professors Isaac Mbeche and Charles Okidi, University of Nairobi, Professor Lee Paddock, Pace University and staff of the IUCN Environmental Law Centre. The meeting dealt with all aspects of the event, including an exciting and forward looking programme, one that will address critical land use issues such as agriculture, ecosystems and human settlements. Ethical issues will also be a feature. A draft programme will be released early next year, and a call for papers has already been distributed. While in Bonn, the University was presented with a complimentary set of IUCN ELP and other publications for the Universities Centre for Advanced Studies on Environmental Law and Policy (CASELAP) Library.
For more information on the IUCN Academy click here
IUCN ELP SUBMITS COMPONENT PROGRAMME PLAN FOR 2005-2008
15 December 2003
 Following an extensive process of consultation with IUCN Members active in environmental law, IUCN Commission on Environmental Law members, IUCN staff (in Headquarters, regional and country offices) and Commission Focal Points, the IUCN Environmental Law Programme (ELP) has submitted its Component Programme Plan for 2005-2008. This Plan describes the comparative advantages, niche, vision, goals, objectives and key result areas for the Programme. It also provides a brief situation analysis, a description of the Programme and outlines the priority treaties, thematic areas and cross cutting areas for the Programme over the next Intersessional Period. The Plan will now go through a process of internal review before being presented to the 3rd World Conservation Congress (WCC) in Bangkok in November 2004. The Co-Chairs of the ELP Programme Planning Team expressed their sincere thanks to everyone who contributed their time and expertise to the development of this joint plan.
IUCN ELP Component Programme Plan 2005-2008
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
Appendix 4
Appendix 5
For more information on the WCC click here.
THE "SECOND GENERATION" IN ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS IN THE ASIAN AND PACIFIC REGION
15 December 2003
 What is the "second generation" in environmental laws? What was the "first generation"? How do we get from first to the second generation? These are some of the questions that the IUCN Environmental Law Programme's latest publication "Towards a 'Second Generation' in Environmental Laws in the Asian and Pacific Region (Select Trends) attempts to explore. The book contains "thought pieces" prepared by experts belonging to the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law and the IUCN Environmental Law Centre, which were first presented at the IUCN/Institute for Global Environmental Strategies/Asian Development Bank symposium held in Tokyo, Japan on 11 November 2002. The publication was officially released at the launch of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law in Shanghai.
To obtain a copy of the publication click here.
To find out more about recent releases by IUCN ELP click here.
DEVELOPING AN INTERNATIONAL REGIME ON FAIR AND EQUITABLE BENEFIT SHARING FROM GENETIC RESOURCES
5 December 2003
 From 1-5 December 2003, the Second Ad Hoc Open-Ended Working Group on Access and Benefit Sharing is meeting in Montreal to take forward the mandate adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, which called for the development of an international regime on fair and equitable benefit sharing arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. This mandate is meant to build on the Bonn Guidelines on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising out of their Utilization, adopted by the Sixth meeting of the Conference of Parties of he Convention on Biological Diversity in 2002 in The Hague.
Full Story
Background documents are available here.
MAKING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS WORK FOR BIODIVERSITY
4 December 2003
 Experts from more than a dozen countries gathered in Singapore to debate the relationship between "Intellectual Property and Biological Resources" - with a focus on issues such as owning intellectual property in modified living things, the relationship between the CBD and the TRIPS agreement, legal protection for biotechnological innovations, and concerns of local and indigenous communities and developing countries. The discussions were intended to lead to answers on whether the future holds an equitable compromise on intellectual property and biological resources. The Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (APCEL), an IUCN Member, co-organized the conference with three Singapore institutions, and in partnership with IUCN-CEL, the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law and the Macquarie University Centre for Environmental Law. IUCN's ELP was well represented at the conference, with four CEL members presenting papers and the Head of the Regional ELP, Asia participating in the concluding Roundtable. Singapore's Senior Minister of State for Law & Home Affairs opened the conference.
Find the programme here.
For more information on APCEL click here on MU-CEL click here and IUCN in Asia click here.
ECOLEX - A GATEWAY TO ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
2 December 2003
 ECOLEX, a joint initiative of IUCN, UNEP and FAO to build capacity by providing the most comprehensive global source of environmental law worldwide, has been re-launched in Rome at the FAO General Conference. The 'new' ECOLEX represents the first step towards allowing users to undertake a common search of all of the data bases of IUCN (ELIS), FAO (FAOLEX) and UNEP. Through a single search users will now be able to access bibliographic and analytical information on multilateral legal instruments, national legislation, soft law, judicial decisions, law and policy literature and more for selected subject areas and key words. Combining the data of IUCN and UNEP through ECOLEX was mandated by the Governing Council of UNEP in 1995, and the initiative was subsequently joined by FAO. The IUCN Environmental Law Centre, Bonn provides the Management Unit for ECOLEX.
Full Story
For more on ECOLEX click here. To link to ECOLEX click here.
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