Unraveling the Nagoya Protocol

The Nagoya Protocol is an unprecedented international environmental agreement that equally addresses development, distributive justice, and environmental sustainability. With a balanced view of the various possible interpretations of the Protocol provisions, in light of different national and regional perspectives, and a systematic highlighting of its legal innovations, Unraveling the Nagoya Protocol: A Commentary on the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing to the Convention on Biological Diversity will serve as a seminal work for all those interested in the environment, human rights, economics and both legal and scientific innovations. Readership: Academics and practitioners interested in international environmental law, biodiversity, human rights and sustainable development

Synthesis Report – National Desk Studies : Capacity-building to promote integrated implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the Convention on Biological Diversity at the national level

This report provides a synthesis of the desk studies prepared by nine pilot countries(Belarus, Burkina Faso, China,Ecuador, Malaysia, Malawi, Mexico, Republic of Moldova, Uganda)within the framework of the project ‘Capacity-building to promote integrated implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the Convention on Biological Diversity at the national level’. The project aims to strengthen the capacity of the nine pilot countries to develop and test practical measures to promote the integrated implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and to mainstream biosafety into national biodiversity strategies and action plans (NBSAPs) and other sectoral and cross-sectoral legislation, policies and institutional frameworks. In their national desk study, each pilot country provides an overview of the national legal, policy and institutional framework relevant to biosafety and an analysis of the extent to which these frameworks address biosafety. The desk studies also provide an analysis of lessons learnt, remaining gaps, as well as recommendations to improve the mainstreaming of biosafety in existing frameworks. The project was implemented from February to December 2016 with the financial support of the Government of Japan, through the Japan Biodiversity Fund

From Corporate Social Responsibility to Accountability Mechanisms:The Role of the Convention on Biological Diversity

This paper traces the progressive shift at the international level from purely voluntary approaches (corporate social responsibility or CSR) towards accountability mechanisms to ensure the environmentally sound conduct of private entities. It examines whether the most recent international discussion on human rights and corporate accountability have adequately considered environmental protection concerns. It then concentrates on the growing number of international oversight mechanisms that provide a readily-available and impartial avenue for addressing complaints against private companies..

The Right to Water for Food and Agriculture

The right to water emerged in the Nineties primarily as the right to domestic water for drinking, washing and cooking, and was closely related to the right to sanitation, both of which are seen as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living. This study examines the question of the right to water for food and agriculture and asks whether such a right can be found in the right to water, or whether it is more appropriate to examine the right to adequate food for that purpose. Seeking inspiration from the right to adequate food and from other fields of international law, the study explores the content of the right to water for food and agriculture and then considers its implications for water law. Recognizing a human right to water – for drinking and household needs as well as for growing food – has implications for water allocation and sets limits to the extent that water can be allocated for other uses. In addition, it entails the respect for procedural rights and attention to important principles, such as the principle of non-discrimination and the rights of indigenous peoples

Enabling transformative biodiversity governance in the Post-2020 era

While there are increasing calls for transformative change and transformative governance, what this means in the context of addressing biodiversity loss remains debated. The aim of this edited volume Transforming Biodiversity Governance is to open up this debate and identify ways forward in the context of the implementation of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). To become transformative, biodiversity governance needs to be transformed: yet how and by whom? These questions are urgent, given the fact that around one million species are threatened with extinction (Díaz et al., 2019), despite over half a century of global efforts to avoid this tragedy. By bringing together insights from previous chapters, we here reflect on these questions

Enabling Transformative Biodiversity Governance in the post-2020 Era

While there are increasing calls for transformative change and transformative governance, what this means in the context of addressing biodiversity loss remains debated. The aim of this edited volume Transforming Biodiversity Governance is to open up this debate and identify ways forward in the context of the implementation of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). To become transformative, biodiversity governance needs to be transformed: yet how and by whom? These questions are urgent, given the fact that around one million species are threatened with extinction (Díaz et al., 2019), despite over half a century of global efforts to avoid this tragedy