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The article reports that a new approach to negotiations in curbing emissions has raised hopes that the United Nations climate change conference in Paris, France in November 2015 will agree to meaningful climate steps. It says that negotiators hope that the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) approach will prevail where the Kyoto strategy failed. It mentions that with the INDC approach, nations pledged to limit their emissions.

The European Union (EU) is widely assumed to be a global environmental leader, especially in addressing climate change, though this reputation suffered greatly when European leaders were sidelined during the 2009 United Nations Climate Summit in Copenhagen. Subsequently, however, the EU has made significant progress in extending its Emission Trading System to the aviation sector, one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions, and did so not only regionally, but also managed to get it onto the global policy agenda. This contribution investigates the EU's role in shaping the 2013 International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) resolution committing 191 government signatories to developing a global market-based measure to cap international aviation's carbon pollution. While not exactly setting new environmental standards or achieving definitive regulatory success, the case illustrates the agenda-setting capacity of the EU through leveraging its market power and adopting an explicitly extra-territorial rule to induce potential regulatory co-operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2010 UN climate conference in Cancún emphasized that ‘Parties should, in all climate change related actions, fully respect human rights’. However, so far there is no further guidance. This article discusses the relevant legal human rights norms and two case studies from the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The first case (Bajo Aguán, Honduras) shows that the current absence of any international safeguards can lead to registration of highly problematic projects. The second case (Olkaria, Kenya) suggests that safeguards, introduced here as a side effect of World Bank involvement, can have a positive impact, but that it is necessary to have them based on human rights. It therefore seems recommendable that the UN climate regime develop mandatory human rights safeguards. In addition or alternatively, individual buyer countries or groups of countries, such as the European Union, could introduce their own additional requirements for CDM projects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

UNECE/Water Convention - MoP-6 "Achievements, New Tools and Future Challenges" (Francesca Romanin Jacur) 42 UNECE: Aarhus Convention - Compliance Committee "Deliberations" (Elsa Tsioumani) 46 Mauritius/UK - The Chagos Archipelago "Latest Developments" 50 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UN / GA 64th Session - Environmental Policy and Legal Developments (Elisa Morgera) 2 UNFCCC / CP.15 - The Outcome from Copenhagen: 1. A Building Block or a Faltering Step? (George de Berdt Romilly and Lorne S. Clark) 11 UNFCCC / CP.15 - The Outcome from Copenhagen: 2. At the Limits of Global Diplomacy? (Joanna Depledge) 17 UNFCCC / CP.15 - The Outcome from Copenhagen: 3. Success or Failure? (Richard L. Ottinger) 22 UNFCCC / CP.15 - The Outcome from Copenhagen: 4. The Birth of a New Era? (Jim MacNeill) 24 CBD / ABS-8 - Moving Towards a Protocol? (Elsa Tsioumani) 26 FAO / 36th Conference - Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishing -- A New Treaty 30 UNEP - First Work on Mercury Instrument 31 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on the adaptation issue discussed during the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It mentions the impact of the abrupt climatic change to the human beings as well as the general biodiversity and cites that climate change has been considered as one of the major problems faced by most of the countries across the planet. Meanwhile, it aims to investigate on the efforts of the European Union for the creation of the climate change policy. Furthermore, the significance of biodiversity conservation and preservation are also highlighted.

The article discusses how humans have failed to respond to various global environmental threats, such as climate change, despite scientific literature calling for change. Topics include an examination of the outcome of the 1972 United Nation's (UN) conference proceedings in Stockholm, Sweden, several books related to environmental responsibility including "Limits to Growth," and "Only One Earth," by economist Barbara Ward, and the creation of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). Also discussed is the commission's publication of "Our Common Future," the insights it articulated, and how it sparked a debate about sustainable development. Steps the private sector, national governments, and institutions can take toward sustainable development are presented.

Information about the 62nd session of the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) on September 18 to November 16, 2007 at the UN Headquarters in New York is presented. An overview of discussions on selected general and environmental issues are reported. A brief report on the high-level meeting on climate change on September 24, 2007 under the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon is discussed.

The article discusses the United Nations' activities and conventions pertaining to environmental policies and laws. The forums include United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) ninth session of its Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum and Global Ministerial Environment Forum in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, UNEP's International Conference on Chemicals Management, Convention on Biological Diversity, and Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety Convention and the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity held in Curitiba, Brazil.

This article presents the resolutions that addressed different global issues in environmental laws and policies adopted from the 2005 World Summit Outcome conference. This includes: the issues regarding the values and principles of the summit, the developments in different projects that they have launched, the peace and collective security, human rights, the rule of law, Economic & Social Council, Security Council, Human Rights Council, secretariat and management reform, system-wide coherence, and the strengthening of the United Nations.

The article reports on international developments relevant to environmental law and policy. The International Whaling Commission's 57th annual meeting which was held in June 2005 in Ulsan, Republic of Korea, has focused on issues on anti-whaling and pro-whaling nations. The meeting also discussed issues on conservation and on proposals to lift the 20-year moratorium on commercial whaling. In other news, the Elisabeth Mann Borgese Medal was awarded by the President of the International Ocean Institute to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Before the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) was held in Brazil in 1992, the involvement of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in UNconferences was limited. NGOs participate in UN conferences in two ways, at a non-governmental forum usually convened simultaneously with an official UN conference, or as accredited observers to the official conference where government delegations meet and make decisions. Only 200 NGOs were granted access to the official portion of the Decade for Women Conference held in Nairobi in 1985, whereas 1,400 organizations were accredited to attend UNCED in Rio in 1992. And while only a small portion, about 5 percent, of those were women-oriented NGOs, they had a significant impact on the outcome. An entire chapter on women and environmental issues was added to the official conference document, and cross-cutting references to women were included throughout the document. This achievement reflects the work of several uniquely placed women, in and outside governments and the United Nations system, working together to build an international network of women and bring their voices to the table. Moreover, the techniques they developed have been used by women at every majorUNconference held since 1992. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Reports that the preparatory committee for the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development held its first agenda-planning session last year. Presents edited excerpts of the committee's report, which reveal the tone and the major issues to be addressed come June 1992.

This article examines the role of local industries and multinational corporations in environmental protection. In 1972, government representatives from around the world met in Stockholm for the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, which spurred the formation of the United Nations Environment Programme. The Stockholm conference is generally acknowledged as the beginning of the cooperative global effort to protect the environment and to unite all sectors of the world--citizens, scientists, governments and industries--in attaining this goal. The experience of industry with environmental problem solving in the 13 years following the Stockholm conference can be summarized briefly: it has been costly but worthwhile. This was the message that came out of the World Industry Conference on Environmental Management, which was held in Versailles, France in November 1984. The meeting was a unique forum for constructive industry/government cooperation on international environment planning and management. Globally, the cost of environmental protection is on the order of $100 million per year, of which a large part is contributed by industry. Despite these costs, industry has made considerable progress in identifying environmental problems over the last few years and finding solutions for them. INSETS: The Philippines Study;The Malaysian Study.

UN/ECE• Sofia Ministerial Conference - 'Environment for Europe' 2UN/CSD• Intergovernmental Panel on Forests 6UN/ECA• Functions and Organisation of the Secretariat 9UNCTAD• Policy Debate on Trade, Environment and Development 10UNEP• Rio Follow-Up: Marine Environment 11Basel Convention• Amendment Adopted on Hazardous Waste Export 14FAO• Food Scarcity 14IMO• Report of the 37th Session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee 16CMS• Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds - Regional Agreement 19 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) meeting in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 illustrated the enormous rift that has appeared between North and South. Not only is the agenda of the North different from that of the South, but the language, the discourse, is different. The paper, which was conceived as a contribution to the new discourse surrounding development and the environment explores the divergence between North and South in terms of the limited Northern perspective represented by 'environmental managerialism'. The failure to grasp the global nature of environmental issues lies at the heart of the problem for radical scholarship. It is the central question to which, as sociologists, we should direct our energies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WORLD LEADERS DEFINED A CLEAR agenda for sustainable development with the adoption of Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration on Environment anal Development, and the UNCED-related conventions. Ten years later, however, progress towards the goals established at the Rio Earth Summit has been slower than anticipated. Some advarice has been made in adopting measures to protect the environment through science and technology, but conservation measures are far from satisfactory. Agenda 21 and the principles established in Rio remain as relevant today as they were in 1992, but the global context has changed. The Science and Technology Community (S & TC)§ has to take into account globalization, the paradigm leaps in information and communication technologies, social dislocation in many parts of the world, and the spread of HIV/AIDS. In meeting the challenges of Agenda 21 and beyond, the S & TC is aware that political will is the key to success. Practical steps are needed to establish the credibility of the Johannesburg Summit in carrying forward the sustainable development agenda in meaningful and measurable ways. Partnerships with a variety of stakeholders are essential for ensuring the commitment of all parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The world conference (Conference of the Parties (COP23)) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change took place in Bonn (Germany) from 6 to 17 November. Speakers at the meeting stressed the severity of the threat from global warming and the urgent need to act but what commitments came out of the COP23 meeting? Alexandra Carrick gives a short summary of the meeting and some of the energy outcomes of the conference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors offer a proposal of reforms to international environmental policies for the 2012 United Nations (UN) Conference on Sustainable Development to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 2012. The recommendations are based on the results of a 2011 study by the Earth System Governance Project and include topics such as the reform and upgrade of UN environmental institutions, the integration of sustainability policies from local to global governments entities ,and an emphasis on economic fairness and equity for poorer nations in sustainable development programs. It is argued that a constitutional movement of global environmental governance is necessary to ensure sustainable change.

UNCSD (Rio+20) - A View inside RioCentro 201 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors opine regarding climate and food policy and climate negotiations undertaken at a United Nations (UN) meeting in Cancún, Mexico in December 2010. The authors explain that the international climate agreements achieved did not address related agricultural programs or food security, a fact that they regard as a critical omission.

The article offers information about the United Nations meeting held in Bangkok, Thailand that encourages developing countries to step up to the challenge of climate change to gain additional money flowing into clean-development projects. The concept would increase emissions to grow the economies and help citizens out of poverty in the current climate treaty. The European Commission (EC) will set policy proposals that would scale back the clean development mechanism (CDM) which is a program that allows businesses to offset their emissions by funding clean-energy projects. The recommendation aims to increase emissions reductions in every home in Europe as well as to give developing countries incentives towards economic stability.

The article reports on the deforestation issues which will be discussed at the global carbon emission control forum. According to the report, European companies seek to offset their greenhouse-gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol for it is generating billions of dollars into clean-energy projects in the developing world. However, the policy does not include funds to prevent deforestation, which is responsible for some 20% of global carbon emissions. Environmental experts ensures that deforestation will be part of the meeting's agenda as the international negotiators of United Nations will be gathered for climate change in Bali, Indonesia.

The article reports on the proceedings of the convention held in Rome, Italy in September 2005 regarding the second Conference of Parties of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade also known as the "PIC Convention." The convention focused on the issues of operationalizing the procedures developed by the nine Intergovernmental Negotiating Committees (INCs) and the need for a funding mechanism that will finance their programs.

This article highlights the United Nations World Conference on Disaster Reduction from January 18-22, 2005 in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. The meeting brought together Member States, United Nations entities, non-governmental organizations, academics and other actors involved in disaster reduction. The conference aims to increase the international profile of disaster risk reduction and promote its integration into development planning and practice, and to identify gaps related to vulnerability, risk assessment and disaster management.

The article reports on developments and activities of the United Nations. According to a report issued on December 9, 2003 by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the world's population is projected to rise to nine billion by 2300. The UN Secretary-General on an occasion told that institutional investors could have "a decisive impact" on future greenhouse gas emissions and the environmental performance of major companies. On October 22, 2003, at its Extraordinary Meeting, the Working Group of Senior Officials decided that the Sixth Ministerial Conference "Environment for Europe" is to take place in Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro, in September or October 2007.

Highlights the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice which held its 6th session in Vienna from April 28 to May 9, 1997. Issues discussed during the meeting; Issues concerning criminal law measures as means for the protection of the environment dealt with in the meeting; Information on the report `The Role of Criminal Law in the Protection of the Environment,' which was presented by the Secretary-General.

The article offers world news briefs related to environmental policies as of July 2014. The 65th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) held in Switzerland. The second meeting of the United Nation (UN) High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) held in New York. The U.S. President Barack Obama planned to expand the boundaries of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.

The authors reflect on the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD (Rio+20)). They mention several opinions expressed during the event including the criticism of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on the final negotiating text, the embarrassment of delegations on the title of the outcome document, and predicament of green growth. They note that the output document titled "The Future we Want" has been finalised during the conference.

The article reflects on the goals achieved and those that have fallen short of the desired results in environmental policies. Several issues that have recent developments have been briefly discussed. The United Nations reported that more landmines came out of the ground than are planted each year. There have been moves made with regard to the international management of chemicals. The International Conference on Chemicals Management is going to be held on Dubai, 4-6 February 2006. The Montreal, Quebec meeting was not as successful as participants had hoped but they were happy with the results.

This article highlights the United Nations Conference for the negotiation of a successor agreement to the International Tropical Timber Agreement, which met at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland from February 14-18, 2005. Delegates continued their discussion of bracketed text from the First Part of the Conference, held in Geneva in July 2004. At that session, some progress was made in agreeing on the text for a new agreement. Many proposals on the unresolved issues were tabled during the meeting, but delegates were unable to reach agreement on a number of cross-cutting proposals.

This article highlights a country-led initiative (CLI) in support of the United Nations Forum on Forests on the future of the international arrangement on forests (IAF), which was held from January 25-28, 2005 in Zapopan-Guadalajara, Mexico. The CLI had a double purpose: to elaborate the critical elements that countries would like to see included in a future IAF, and to provide an informal contribution that will help provide a basis for the decision concerning the future of the IAF.

Discusses how the United Nation's International Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted a new convention to regulate ballast water carried by merchant ships. How the treaty will rid of the spread of alien aquatic species which could be potentially harmful; Consideration of how ships discharge water at their arrival point as well as nonnative organisms such as kelp and zebra mushrooms; Efforts of countries such as Australia and Canada to bring their concerns to the attention of IMO's Maritime Environment Protection Agency (MEPC).

Discusses issues related to the December, 1997 United Nations climate convention at Kyoto, Japan. Goal of a new legally binding treaty to reduce anthropogenic greenhouse-gas emissions; Key issue of willingness of governments to set aside differences; Perspectives of various governments; Japan's consensual approach; Developing-country participation; Idea of per-capita emissions.

Focuses on the plans surrounding the five year anniversary of the Earth Summit that took place in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. The event planned for March 1997 called RIO+5; Comments from Maurice Strong, the secretary-general of the Earth Summit; The track records of developed countries in terms of their environmental programs in 1997.