Geneva/Nairobi, 19 January 2013–International effort to address mercury—a notorious heavy metal with significant  health and environmental effects—was today delivered a significant boost with governments agreeing to a global, legally-binding treaty to prevent emissions and releases.

The Minamata Convention on Mercury—named after a city in Japan where serious health damage occurred as a result of mercury pollution in the mid-20^th Century—provides controls and reductions across a range of products, processes and industries where mercury is used, released or emitted.

These range from medical equipment such as thermometers and energy-saving light bulbs to the mining, cement and coal-fired power sectors.

The treaty, which has been four years in negotiation and which will be open for signature at a special meeting in Japan in October, also addresses the direct mining of mercury, export and import of the metal and safe storage of waste mercury.

Pinpointing populations at risk, boosting medical care and better training of health care professionals in identifying and treating mercury-related effects will also form part of the new agreement.

Mercury and its various compounds have a range of serious health impacts including brain and neurological damage especially among the young.

Others include kidney damage and damage to the digestive system. Victims can suffer memory loss and language impairment alongside many other well documented problems.

Initial funding to fast track action until the new treaty comes into force in the expected three to five years’ time has been pledged by Japan, Norway and Switzerland.

Support for developing countries is also expected from the Global Environment Facility and a programme once the convention is operational.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) which convened the negotiations among over 140 member states in Geneva, said at the close:” After complex and often all night sessions here in Geneva, nations have today laid the foundations for a global response to a pollutant whose notoriety has been recognized for well over a century.”  

“Everyone in the world stands to benefit from the decisions taken this week in Geneva– in particular the workers and families of small-scale gold miners, the peoples of the Arctic and this generation of mothers and babies and the generations to come. I look forward to swift ratification of the Minamata Convention so that it comes into force as soon as possible,” he said.

Fernando Lugris, the Uruguayan chair of the negotiations, said : “ Today in the early hours of 19 January 2013 we have closed a chapter on a journey that has taken four years of often intense but ultimately successful negotiations and opened a new chapter towards a sustainable future. This has been done in the name of vulnerable populations everywhere and represents an opportunity for a healthier and more sustainable century for all peoples”.

Ambassador Franz Perrez of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Switzerland said:”Switzerland, which initiated with Norway the negotiations for a mercury convention, is very pleased about this impressive success. It will help us to protect human health and the environment all over the world and is a proof that multilateralism can work when political will exists.”

“This treaty will not bring immediate reductions of mercury emissions. It will need to be improved and strengthened, to make all fish safe to eat,” said David Lennett from the Natural Resources Defense Council representing the Zero Mercury Working Group a global coalition of environmental NGOs “Still, the treaty will phase out mercury in many products and we welcome it as a starting point.”
 
The decision to launch negotiations was taken by environment ministers at the 2009 session of the UNEP Governing Council and the final and fifth negotiation took place this week in Geneva.

The scope of the new treaty which puts in controls and also reduction measures in respect to mercury is as follows.

Products

Governments have agreed on a range of mercury containing products whose production, export and import will be banned by 2020.

These include:-

·        Batteries, except for ‘button cell’ batteries used in implantable medical devices

·        Switches and relays

·        Certain types of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs)

·        Mercury in cold cathode fluorescent lamps and external electrode fluorescent lamps

·        Soaps and cosmetics

Certain kinds of non-electronic medical devices such as thermometers and blood pressure devices are also included for phase-out by 2020.

Governments approved exceptions for some large measuring devices where currently there are no mercury-free alternatives.

·        Vaccines where mercury is used as a preservative have been excluded from the treaty as have products used in religious or traditional activities

·        Delegates agreed to a phase-down of the use of dental fillings using mercury amalgam.

Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining

The booming price of gold in recent years has triggered a significant growth in small-scale mining where mercury is used to separate gold from the ore-bearing rock.

Emissions and releases from such operations and from coal-fired power stations represent the biggest source of mercury pollution world-wide.

Workers and their families involved in small-scale gold mining are exposed to mercury pollution in several ways including through inhalation during the smelting.

Mercury is also being released into river systems from these small-scale operations where it can contaminate fish, the food chain and people downstream.

·        Governments agreed that the treaty will require countries to draw up strategies to reduce the amount of mercury used by small-scale miners

·        Nations with artisanal and small-scale gold mining operations will draw up national plans within three years of the treaty entering into force to reduce and if possible eliminate the use of mercury in such operations

·        Public awareness campaigns and support for mercury-free alternatives will also be part of the plans

From Power Stations to Cement Factories

The new treaty will control mercury emissions and releases from various large industrial facilities ranging from coal-fired power stations and industrial boilers to certain kinds of smelters handling for example zinc and gold.

Waste incineration and cement clinker facilities are also on the list.

Nations agreed to install the Best Available Technologies on new power plants and facilities with plans to be drawn up to bring emissions down from existing ones.

The negotiations were initially looking to set thresholds on the size of plants or level of emissions to be controlled. But it was decided this week to defer this until the first meeting of the treaty after it comes into force.

Notes to Editors

Background to the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to prepare a global legally binding instrument on mercury (INC5) http://unep.org/hazardoussubstances/Mercury/Negotiations/INC5/tabid/3471/Default.aspx

Global Mercury Assessment 2013 http://www.unep.org/publications/contents/pub_details_search.asp?ID=6282

Time to Act

http://www.unep.org/publications/contents/pub_details_search.asp?ID=6281

 For More Information Please Contact Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson on Tel: +254 733632755 or when travelling +41 79 596 5737

Mercury Treaty: Last Chance to Address Health Effects
In Final Talks, Western Governments Should Agree to Include Prevention, Treatment

(Geneva, January 10, 2013) – A proposed international treaty to address the damaging effects of mercury should include specific provisions to protect the health of children and other vulnerable populations, Human Rights Watch said today. Governments are to meet in Geneva beginning January 13, 2013, for a fifth and final round of talks for the treaty. Mercury is a toxic metal that attacks the central nervous system and is particularly harmful to children.

So far, the draft treaty has been focused on the environment and neglected the important role that the health sector has to play in addressing the problems caused by mercury, Human Rights Watch said. Western governments have resisted including stronger health provisions.

“Delegates to the mercury treaty negotiations should seize this last chance and draft effective health strategies to prevent and treat mercury poisoning,” said Juliane Kippenberg, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Millions of people around the globe are exposed to mercury on a daily basis, in artisanal mining and elsewhere. There is a dire need for stronger prevention and treatment of mercury poisoning.”

Human Rights Watch research has documented how small-scale gold miners use mercury to extract gold from the ore, and risk mercury poisoning as a result. At least 13 million people work as artisanal gold miners globally, including many children. Few are aware of the harm mercury can cause.

In Mali, Human Rights Watch interviewed children as young as 11 about their daily work with mercury. In Papua New Guinea, a doctor told Human Rights Watch researchers about the impact of mercury on small-scale gold miners: “We have dozens of cases of mercury poisoning. ….They stare blankly at the wall. You cannot talk to them, they are not conversant, nothing. They are like zombies. And we have several cases that did not recover.”

Many health systems are ill-equipped to address mercury poisoning. During a Human Rights Watch investigation in Tanzania, a medical officer in a mining area expressed concern that health workers were “failing to diagnose” people suffering from mercury poisoning because they lack training.

A proposal by Latin American governments for a stand-alone article on health in the mercury treaty was a positive move, Human Rights Watch said. The article should require more public health information, research, surveillance, testing, treatment, and capacity-building of health systems to respond to mercury exposure. In a submission to governments, Human Rights Watch proposed specific language for a health article.

Human Rights Watch welcomed the fact that the current treaty article on small-scale gold mining requires parties to undertake public health activities for artisanal mining communities, but said this is not sufficient to address the problem. Mercury is used in a variety of areas, and as a result affects many different populations. Among other things, it is used in the production of chlorine, of poly vinyl chloride (PVC), a type of plastic, and of batteries, and in dental medicine. Burning fossil fuels, primarily coal, also significantly contributes to mercury emissions.

At the last round of negotiations, in July 2012, Western governments – in particular Canada, the United States, and European Union members – rejected including a stand-alone article on health, contending that treaty is primarily about the environment.

They indicated that including health strategies might interfere with the health sector and drive up the cost of the treaty’s implementation. They also said that current references to health strategies in the draft text were sufficient. Their stance caused a heated debate with Latin American and African governments, whose representatives wanted a stronger health article.

“The position of the United States, Canada, and the European Union has been disappointing,” Kippenberg said. “Wealthier countries should recognize that environmental and health strategies on mercury go hand in hand, and provide financial support for both.”

The treaty is scheduled to be adopted toward the end of 2013 as the “Minamata Convention” in Japan. In the 1950s, the city of Minamata in Japan was the scene of one of the worst mercury poisoning disasters in history, in which more than 1,700 people died and many more suffered lifelong disease and disability. Japan has remained in the background, though, in the debate over including health strategies in the treaty.

“Today, Japan has a chance to say, ‘Never again,’” Kippenberg said. “It should take a lesson from Minamata and actively press to include health strategies in the mercury treaty.”

Around the world, environmental degradation – including contamination from mercury – has resulted in the denial of rights, including the right to health, Human Rights Watch said. Governments should recognize international human rights law in the preamble to the treaty and integrate human rights into environmental law.

Mercury poisoning can cause a wide range of health problems. Mercury can attack the cardiovascular system, the kidneys, the gastrointestinal tract, the immune system, and the lungs. Symptoms of exposure include tremors, twitching, vision impairment, headaches, and memory and concentration loss. Higher levels of mercury exposure may result in kidney failure, respiratory failure, and death.

Mercury is particularly harmful to unborn babies and infants, and can be transmitted during pregnancy and through breast milk. It can cause irreversible damage to a child’s development. Researchers have described mercury poisoning as an “invisible epidemic.”

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on the dangers of mercury, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/dangers-of-mercury

To read the Human Rights Watch report on the dangers of mercury in Mali, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2011/12/06/poisonous-mix
To read the Human Rights Watch report on the dangers of mercury in Papua New Guinea, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2011/02/01/gold-s-costly-dividend

For more information, please contact:
In Geneva, Juliane Kippenberg (English, French, German): +41-77-472-9194 (mobile); or kippenj@hrw.org
In New York, Joseph Amon (English): +1-917-519-8930 (mobile); or amonj@hrw.org

Most Comprehensive Assessment Ever of Global Emissions Released Ahead of Final Negotiations on New Mercury Treaty

Binding Treaty Can Deliver Major Health and Environmental Benefits in Developing and Developed Countries

Nairobi/Geneva, 10 January 2013 – Communities in developing countries are facing increasing health and environmental risks linked to exposure to mercury, according to new studies by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Parts of Africa, Asia and South America could see increasing emissions of mercury into the environment, due mainly to the use of the toxic element in small-scale gold mining, and through the burning of coal for electricity generation.

The Global Mercury Assessment 2013 reports that emissions of the toxic metal from artisanal gold mining have doubled since 2005, in part due to new and better information, but also due to rising gold prices that are expected to lead to further increases.

Due to rapid industrialization, Asia is the largest regional emitter of mercury, and accounts for just under half of all global releases.  

The UNEP study assesses for the first time at a global level releases of mercury into rivers and lakes. Much human exposure to mercury is through the consumption of contaminated fish, making aquatic environments the critical link to human health.

In the past 100 years, man-made emissions have caused the amount of mercury in the top 100 metres of the world’s oceans to double. Concentrations in deeper waters have increased by up to 25 per cent.

The study, which provides a comprehensive breakdown of mercury emissions by region and economic sector, also highlights significant releases into the environment linked to contaminated sites and deforestation.

The report says an estimated 260 tonnes of mercury – previously held in soils – are being released into rivers and lakes.

Along with a parallel UNEP publication Mercury: Time to Act, the new assessment will be formally presented at the International Negotiating Committee on Mercury (INC5), to be held in Geneva on 13-18 January 2013. Governments attending the major conference are aiming to conclude discussions on a global legally binding treaty to minimize risks to people and the environment from exposure to mercury.

This would reduce cases of neurological and behavioral disorders, and other health problems linked to mercury, as well as the contamination of soils and rivers caused by man-made emissions of the metal.

Governments gave the green light to negotiations towards a global treaty back in 2009 at the UNEP Governing Council held in Nairobi, Kenya.

“Mercury, which exists in various forms, remains a major global, regional and national challenge in terms of threats to human health and the environment,” said United Nations Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

“In 2009 at the UNEP Governing Council, nations agreed to launch negotiations for a legally binding treaty aimed at bringing down releases from sources such as industry and mining, address mercury-containing products, and tackle historical pollution sites—the final negotiations begin in just a few days’ time,” he added.

“Mercury has been known as a toxin and a hazard for centuries—but today we have many of the alternative technologies and processes needed to reduce the risks for tens of millions of people, including pregnant mothers and their babies. A good outcome can also assist in a more sustainable future for generations to come,” said Mr. Steiner.

Mercury released from industry and other man-made sources can circulate in the environment for up to centuries at a time. This means that it is likely to be several years or decades before reductions in mercury emissions have a demonstrable effect on mercury levels in nature and the food chain.

The UNEP studies say this reinforces the need for swift action by governments, industry and civil society to strengthen efforts to reduce mercury emissions and releases. Delays in action, say the reports, will lead to slower recovery of ecosystems and a greater legacy of pollution.

Rising levels of mercury present in the Arctic are also highlighted.

An estimated 200 tonnes of mercury are deposited in the Arctic each year, generally far from where it originated. Studies have shown a ten-fold increase in levels of mercury in certain Arctic wildlife species in the past 150 years, due mainly, it is thought, to human activity.

Global Trends in Mercury Emissions and their Impacts

The UNEP reports state that global emissions of mercury have remained relatively stable in the last twenty years, with 2010 emissions from human activities thought to be just under 2,000 tonnes.

Despite improved availability of data on mercury, the emissions estimate is still subject to uncertainty, and covers a range of 1010 to 4070 tonnes.

Along with coal burning, the use of mercury to separate metal from ore in small-scale gold mining remains the chief source of emissions worldwide.  

Annual emissions from small-scale gold mining are estimated at 727 tonnes, or 35 per cent of the global total.

Greater exposure to mercury poses a direct threat to the health of some 10-15 million people who are directly involved in small-scale gold mining, mainly in Africa, Asia and South America. An estimated 3 million women and children work in the industry.  

Mercury-free methods and other low-cost solutions for reducing emissions during gold extraction are available, but socio-economic conditions, and low awareness of the risks of mercury, are barriers to adopting safer techniques.

“Artisanal and small-scale gold mining is recognized as a major challenge in efforts to reduce emissions from mercury,” said Fernando Lugris (Uruguay), Chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee.

“While taking into account the impacts on national development, we must move to set national goals and reduction targets. Other efforts should work towards the formalization of the sector, which is largely unregulated. As well as reducing health risks from mercury, this could give workers greater rights under labour laws,” added Mr. Lugris.

Coal burning is responsible for some 475 tonnes of mercury emissions annually, or around 24 per cent of the global total.

Despite increased coal combustion in certain regions, more stringent regulations on pollution in several countries have contributed to reducing overall mercury emissions from coal burning and off-setting part of the emissions arising from increased industrial activity.

Other sources of mercury highlighted in the UNEP publications include:

·        Metal and cement production, through fuel extraction and combustion of fossil fuels
·        Consumer products such as electronic devices, switches, batteries, energy-efficient light bulbs and cosmetics such as skin-lightening creams and mascara. Mercury contained in such goods can also enter the waste stream.
·        Dentistry: Around 340 tonnes of mercury are used annually to make fillings and other dental products, of which up to 100 tonnes are likely to enter the waste stream
·        Plastic production – particularly the manufacture of poly vinyl chloride (PVC). PVC is in high demand in many countries where there are extensive building projects
·        Chlor-alkali industry (production of chlorine and caustic soda from salt)
·        Primary mining – although the practice is now limited to a handful of countries with only one (Kyrgyzstan) still exporting

Action on Mercury

Efforts to tackle the environmental and health threat posed by mercury have grown over recent decades, according to the reports.

Notable actions include:

·        The UNEP Mercury Products Partnership has set the goal of reducing demand for mercury-containing thermometers and blood pressure devices by 70 per cent by 2017
·        USA has finalized the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard which predicts to reduce mercury emissions by 20 tonnes by 2016
·        European Union banned mercury exports in 2011 and the USA has just started an export ban from 1 January 2013
·        UNEP has supported National Action Plans by Argentina, Uruguay and other countries to find environmentally-sound solutions for the storage and disposal of excess mercury and waste products

Yet despite such steps, coordinated action on a global level to reduce environmental and health risks posed by exposure to mercury has been comparatively slow.  

The UNEP studies state that accelerated action, such as finalizing a global, legally binding treaty, promoting the availability of low-mercury technologies, and other measures, can support a sharp decline in demand for mercury.

To achieve this, primary mining of mercury should be ceased as soon as possible, and demand met by investing in improved recycling measures.

Governments should ensure regulatory frameworks and incentives to promote the transition to viable, safe and commercial alternatives, resulting in reduced releases of mercury and other pollutants.

Notes to Editors

UNEP produced its first Global Mercury Assessment in 2002 and a subsequent study in 2007. The 2013 assessment is the most comprehensive to date, and includes information on the release and impacts of mercury in aquatic environments for the first time.

Mercury: Time to Act is available at: http://www.unep.org/PDF/PressReleases/Mercury_TimeToAct.pdf

Statistics on regional emissions of mercury can be found in Chapter 3 of the 2013 Global Mercury Assessment.

More information on the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Mercury (INC5) to be held in Geneva on 13-18 January 2013 is available at:
http://www.unep.org/hazardoussubstances/MercuryNot/MercuryNegotiations/tabid/3320/language/en-US/Default.aspx

For more information, please contact:

Nick Nuttall, Acting Director, UNEP Division of Communications and Public Information, on +254 733 632 755 /+41 79 596 5737, E-mail: nick.nuttall@unep.org

Bryan Coll, UNEP Newsdesk, on Tel. +254 207623088 or E-mail: unepnewsdesk@unep.org

NEW DEHLI and PLANO, TX December 18, 2012/ – Rovia (http://rovia.com) is proud to announce it was awarded World’s Leading Travel Booking Website at the 2012 World Travel Awards held in Gurgaon, New Delhi, on December 12, and  was selected over other leading booking engines such as Orbitz, Expedia, Priceline, and Travelocity.  World Travel Awards is one of the most prestigious awards programs in the global travel and tourism industry, hailed by The Wall Street Journal as “the Oscar’s of the travel industry”.

Rovia is the largest provider of curated group travel experiences in the world, annually producing and managing hundreds of unique pre-packaged experiences for groups numbering from a few dozen to a few thousand. Rovia’s advanced travel technology offers unmatched features and benefits.  The company’s booking engine delivers unparalleled convenience and cost reliability, including an assurance of best prices.

The annual World Travel Awards program is highly comprehensive, honoring several industry segments, such as Airlines and Airports, Hotels and Resorts, Honeymoon Destinations, and Car Hire.  In 2011, 791,358 individual votes were cast by travel professionals and consumers in 171 countries.

“Winning World’s Leading Travel Booking Website in the 2012 World Travel Awards reaffirms Rovia’s position as a prominent online travel company,” Rovia President Mike Putman said.  “Rovia is a travel industry innovator and this award is testament to the fact that our customers can book their travel with security and confidence as we continue to set the ultimate standard for their online travel experience.  We are honored by the mutual public and worldwide travel community’s expression of confidence as an industry leader.”

Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of Rovia.

About Rovia:

Rovia is a leading online travel company with offices in South Carolina and Texas.  Established by the convergence of two well-respected travel companies with more than 50 years of experience in the travel industry, Rovia is the largest provider of curated group travel experiences in the world. The company annually produces and manages hundreds of unique pre-packaged experiences for groups numbering from a few dozen to a few thousand.

For inquiries, contact:

Hadas Sasson-Zitomer

Email: press@rovia.com

The IIED – Hivos project’s final report — published today (29 November) — shows how mainstream efforts to make markets work for poor farmers can fail to operate in tune with the ways such farmers themselves try to make their markets work.

“Contrary to the prevailing narrative, and what NGOs, policymakers and donors expect, interventions that aim to upgrade small-scale farmers into high-value, formal supply chains and modern markets tend to benefit only 2-10 per cent of farmers,” says Bill Vorley, a principal researcher at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and co-author of the report.

Vorley and his co-authors point out that most small-scale farmers combine farming with other activities and trade more in informal than formal markets – and rarely through cooperatives or producer organisations that can take advantage of connections with modern markets.

The report shows that rather than being a problem that needs to be fixed, informality can provide the space for small-scale farmers’ agency, to find and build flexibility and resilience in a globalising world.

A central part of the study was managed by a network of farmer leaders, business people, researchers and civil society that spanned Central America, the Andes, East Africa, India and Indonesia. It was led from Bolivia by the Mainumby Ñakurutú Research Centre.

This learning network found that dynamic local, national and regional markets in developing nations give small-scale farmers options beyond those that high-value and modern global supply chains offer. Factors that encourage this include more buyers in the countryside looking for supply, increased trade between developing nations and a growth in urban markets.

At the same time, many small-scale farmers are modernising in their own ways. Rather than rejecting or fully joining modern, globalised markets they are combining aspects of them with informal structures, culture and traditions.

The report draws attention to a key issue: the fact that fewer young people will want to farm tomorrow. Policies and development interventions to support small-scale farmers need to fit with this changing and complex reality to get the future right regarding not only agricultural production and consumption but also youth employment.

Co-author Ethel Del Pozo-Vergnes, a senior researcher at IIED, says it would be better for governments, donors, development agencies and big business to work to understand and support the strategies small-scale farmers are already using, as the combine formal and informal ways to make markets work for them.

The report and regional reports for Asia, Africa and Latin America provide case studies of situations where this is already happening.

“Informality has its downsides,” says Vorley. “But it can bring small-scale farmers great benefits – in market access, flexibility and even market power – but policies tend to ignore this potential in favour of formal structures. Shifts in policy that take account of this informality while addressing its downsides would benefit far more farmers.”

Contacts for interviews:

Bill Vorley (bill.vorley@iied.org) +44 (0)203463 7399

Ethel Del Pozo-Vergnes (Ethel.DelpozoVergnes@iied.org) +44 (0)203463 7399

The participants from 85 countries, including around 40 State delegations, 150 business enterprises and 170 civil society organisations, will join the global dialogue at the United Nations first annual Forum on Business and Human Rights.

“The first Forum on Business and Human Rights has already exceeded all expectations. The much higher than anticipated turnout indicates the interest from all stakeholders in the business and human rights agenda,” said Puvan Selvanathan, who currently heads the five-strong UN Group of experts tasked with guiding the event.

The Forum is designed to promote the implementation of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights*, a set of internationally accepted principles which provide a global standard for preventing and addressing the risk of negative human rights impacts linked to business activity.

The Guiding Principles outline what States and business enterprises should do in practice to prevent and address impacts and to ensure access to effective remedies for those whose rights have been adversely affected by business activity.

“They also give businesses predictability in what is expected of them, and provide other stakeholders, including civil society and investors, the tools to measure progress where it matters most – in the daily lives of people,” said John Ruggie, the former Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the issue, who led the work to develop the Principles. Professor Ruggie was appointed the first chairperson of the Forum. “The work toward full implementation of the UN Guiding Principles for business and human rights has only just begun.”

The UN Forum on Business and Human Rights will bring together, among others, representatives for multinational corporations in the areas of mining, oil and energy, chemicals, banking and finance, electronics and textile and garments, with persons affected by their activities.

“This first global gathering on businesses and human rights will be an opportunity for all stakeholders to discuss challenges in the implementation of the Guiding Principles in particular sectors, in operational environments and in relation to specific rights and groups, and to identify good practices and opportunities for dialogue and cooperation toward solutions,” Mr. Selvanathan said.

The UN Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises will hold a press conference on Tuesday 4 December at 2:30 pm, Press Room 3, at Palais des Nation, the UN Headquarters in Geneva.

(*) Read the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Business/Pages/Tools.aspx

ENDS

The Working Group on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises was established by the United Nations Human Rights Council in June 2011. The five members are Mr. Michael Addo, Ms. Alexandra Guáqueta, Ms. Margaret Jungk, Mr. Puvan Selvanathan (current Chairperson-Rapporteur) and Mr. Pavel Sulyandziga. The Working Group is independent from any government or organization. It reports to the Human Rights Council and to the UN General Assembly.
Learn more, visit:  http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Business/Pages/WGHRandtransnationalcorporationsandotherbusiness.aspx

Learn more about the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights: http://www-stage.lan.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Business/Pages/ForumonBusinessandHR2012.aspx

For additional information and media requests, please contact John E. Grova (+ 41 79 444 4537 / wg-business@ohchr.org / bhrconsultant@ohchr.org)

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts:
Xabier Celaya, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917 9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org)

“Work has been launched as scheduled in all the negotiating bodies and governments have shown commitment here to achieve the objectives of this important conference, which must set the stage for a new leap in global ambition to respond to climate change,” said Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

“Let us remind ourselves again, here in Doha, that international commitments to cut greenhouse gases and deal with the impacts of climate change are higher than they have ever been yet are still not sufficient to prevent the global average temperature rising beyond the 2 degree centigrade target that governments themselves have agreed to,” she said.

In Doha, governments are expected to usher in a renewed commitment under the Kyoto Protocol (KP), move the broad infrastructure of support they have been building for action in the developing world into firm implementation, and decide how to resolve policy issues that remain outstanding under the UNFCCC.

In the opening plenary of the Kyoto Protocol, on Tuesday, governments expressed commitment to leaving Doha with the necessary amendments to the KP.

Governments will also decide how to stick to the task and timetable they set themselves to reach an effective, fair and ambitious universal climate agreement that is to be adopted in 2015 and to enter into force in 2020, and to raise the current inadequate global ambition to address climate change and its impacts before 2020. The new body negotiating this is the Ad-Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP).

In addition, countries meeting in Doha need to reach a better understanding on how to mobilize long-term finance to support action in developing nations, which they have agreed must reach a level of USD 100 billion a year by 2020.

Details on the negotiating bodies and new institutions can be found in the UNFCCC COP18/CMP8 media kit on the press page of the http://unfccc.int/meetings/doha_nov_2012/meeting/6815/php/view/press.php

The key objectives that governments have set themselves for COP 18 in Doha

1) To ensure the seamless continuation of the Kyoto Protocol as of 1 January 2013 The Kyoto Protocol is the only existing and binding agreement under which developed countries commit to cutting greenhouse gases. The treaty underwrites international political trust that developed nations remain responsible to lead emission cuts, and it preserves the important accounting and legal systems inside the Protocol as working models which may inform future agreements.
Key issues under the Protocol that need to be decided in Doha include:

(a) the length of the second commitment period and how to convert targets into so-called “quantified emission limitation and reduction objectives” (QELROs), the unit of binding reduction commitments.
(b) the legal formulation of the amendment to the Protocol, including how to carry over unused emission credits of economies in transition into the second phase of the Protocol.

2) To plan the work under the Durban Platform Given that much more effort will be needed to cut emissions than is captured under the many existing national pledges to cut and limit emissions, governments decided last year in Durban to reach a universal climate change agreement covering all countries from 2020, to be adopted by 2015, and to find concrete ways before 2020 to increase efforts beyond the existing pledges. In Doha, their objective is to plan the work so that:
a) this task is delivered and the timetable is met.
b) different national circumstances are addressed in an effective, fair, ambitious agreement.

3) To complete the Bali Action Plan
Governments decided in Durban at the end of last year to complete the 2007 Bali Action Plan, covering the areas of mitigation (curbing greenhouse gas emissions), adaptation to climate change, and the finance, technology and capacity-building which developing countries require to build their low-emission, climate-resilient futures.
In Doha, governments need to decide which elements of the Bali Action Plan have been achieved and/or implemented, what additional decisions can be taken in Doha and which elements may need to continue to be further addressed.

4) To complete new infrastructure and chart the way forward on long-term climate finance
Governments are presently completing the new infrastructure to channel technology and finance to developing nations and have agreed to move toward the full implementation of this infrastructure and support in Doha. This includes:
a) endorsing the decision on the location of the Green Climate Fund and the work plan of the newly established Standing Committee on Finance.
b) formally deciding on the location and mode of operation of the Technology Mechanism’s Climate Technology Center and Network.

Other key issues and expected results at Doha
Adaptation
* Governments will look at ways to further strengthen the adaptive capacities of the most vulnerable, also through better planning. A particular focus will be on better protection against loss and damage caused by slow onset events such as rising sea levels.

* The Adaptation Committee, composed of 16 members, will report to the COP on its efforts to improve the coordination of adaptation actions at a global scale.

Support of developing country action
* Governments are to complete a registry to record developing country mitigation actions that seek recognition or financial support. The registry will be a flexible, dynamic, web-based platform.

Actions on forests
* In Doha, governments will take work forward to measure deforestation, and to ensure that efforts to fight deforestation are supported. Carbon Capture and Storage
* Ways to ensure the effectiveness and environmental integrity of projects under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism that capture and store carbon emissions will be considered in Doha.

Agriculture
* Governments will further consider the crucial role of agriculture in the global effort to adapt to climate change and curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Development and transfer of technology
* Countries meeting in Doha are to take forward work on enabling the development and transfer of technologies that can help developing countries adapt and curb their emissions.

* Avoiding negative consequences of climate action
In some cases, the implementation of actions that reduce emissions could result in negative economic or social consequences for other countries. In Doha, governments will discuss measures to address such consequences in a special forum.

The seven negotiating bodies and groups  meeting in Doha
COP – Conference of the Parties. This body is the decision-making body of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It meets annually.

About the UNFCCC

With 195 Parties, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has near universal membership and is the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol has been ratified by 193 of the UNFCCC Parties. Under the Protocol, 37 States, consisting of highly industrialized countries and countries undergoing the process of transition to a market economy, have legally binding emission limitation and reduction commitments. The ultimate objective of both treaties is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.

See also:  <http://unfccc.int/press/items/2794.php>

FOOD EVENT IS A PRECIOUS OPPORTUNITY TO TACKLE CAUSES OF HUNGER

Christian Aid today welcomed David Cameron’s announcement of an event next year on food and hunger, which currently afflicts some 870 million people globally.

‘The Prime Minister’s initiative is an important opportunity to attack the causes of hunger as well as its symptoms,’ said Sol Oyuela, Senior UK Political Adviser at Christian Aid.

‘The UK will be in an especially good position to influence global work against hunger next year, when it chairs the G8.

‘We are really delighted that the Government has decided to continue working on the menace of hunger, which causes needless suffering across the world.

‘We are planning to work really hard with our supporters next year to highlight the need to tackle the forces that keep people hungry, including tax dodging, climate change and land grabs – prevention is infinitely better than cure.’

The Prime Minister’s announcement of next year’s event on food and hunger came as he hosted a meeting of world leaders tasked by the United Nations with creating a new action plan on global poverty.

Ms Oyuela added that all the indicators point towards things getting worse in the months ahead for people living in poverty.

‘Widespread drought in North and South America, as well as in parts of Africa, has led to peaks in the prices of maize, wheat and soybeans. High prices impact most heavily on food-import dependent countries where the world’s poorest people live.’

ENDS

For more information and to speak to Sol Oyuela, please contact Rachel Baird on 0207 523 2446 or 07545 501 749.

Notes to Editors:

1. Christian Aid works in some of the world’s poorest communities in around some 50 countries at any one time. We act where there is great need, regardless of religion, helping people to live a full life, free from poverty. We provide urgent, practical and effective assistance in tackling the root causes of poverty as well as its effects.

2. Christian Aid has a vision, an end to global poverty, and we believe that vision can become a reality. We believe that the underlying causes of poverty were made by, and can be ended by, human action. Our strategy for building the power of us all to end poverty is embodied in a new report ‘Partnership for Change’: http://www.christianaid.org.uk/Images/2012_strategy.pdf

3. Christian Aid is a member of the ACT Alliance, a global coalition of 125 churches and church-related organisations that work together in humanitarian assistance, advocacy and development.  Further details at http://actalliance.org

4. Follow Christian Aid’s newswire on Twitter: http://twitter.com/caid_newswire

5. For more information about the work of Christian Aid visit http://www.christianaid.org.uk

Washington D.C.—

The report ASTI Global Assessment of Agricultural R&D Spending, published by the International Food Policy Research Institute’s (IFPRI) Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators initiative (ASTI) and the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR), reveals trends in R&D spending from 1981 to 2008.

Following a decade of slow growth in the 1990s, global public spending on agricultural R&D increased by 22 percent from 2000 to 2008—from $26.1 billion to $31.7 billion.

These numbers, however, only tell part of the story.

Middle-income countries have been the main drivers of global growth in recent years. China and India accounted for nearly half the global increase, but spending also rose significantly in a number of other more advanced developing countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Iran, Nigeria, and Russia.  Growth was particularly strong from 2005 to 2008.

Most notably in Brazil and China, long-term government commitment to agricultural R&D and a supportive policy environment have fueled increased agricultural productivity, as well as overall economic growth. This demonstrates the benefits of sustained government investments.

Agricultural research spending in low-income countries, on average, grew by 2 percent per year from 2000 to 2008, with spending in many countries stagnating or declining.  A large number of low-income countries, particularly in Africa south of the Sahara, are highly vulnerable to volatile research funding, often the result of the short-term, project-oriented nature of donor and development bank funding. Additionally, many R&D agencies in these countries lack the necessary human, operating, and infrastructure resources to successfully develop, adopt, and disseminate science and technology innovations.

“More attention should be given to the world’s poorest countries regarding government and donor support,” said Nienke Beintema, Head of the ASTI initiative at IFPRI. “We need to prevent them from falling further behind.”

The report is released in advance of the Second Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD), a platform to encourage practical collaboration among all those working in agricultural research and innovation and their role in development, which opens on October 28 in Punta del Este, Uruguay.

“We are very concerned that unless spending increases dramatically, smallholder farmers in the poorer countries will continue to lack the essential knowledge, tools and technologies required to support their needs, and for production to be resilient in the face of the challenges ahead,” said Mark Holderness, Executive Secretary of GFAR and organizer of GCARD.  “This study provides a key first step in creating the robust evidence base required to demonstrate the essential value of such investments and convince governments and societies of the returns they bring.”

The full report and additional information can be found online here: http://www.ifpri.org/pressroom/briefing/global-trends-agricultural-rd-spending

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