Below is a editable google doc that you can book times to have Mary-Anne model a lesson in your classroom. Simply choose you slot and start typing.
Thursday, 27 June 2013
Sunday, 23 June 2013
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A selection of community conservation initiatives from around Sabah and a timeline of key events. |
From 21-22 June, Holly Shrumm (Natural Justice) joined a Forever Sabah workshop of community conservation leaders. Forever Sabah is a 25-year initiative that aims to build a fair, prosperous and sustainable Sabah (Malaysia) by pioneering the state’s transition to a diversified green economy. It aims to change the development and economic trajectory of the State by rebalancing the economy from its historical over-reliance on and exploitation of natural habitats (particularly forests, rivers and seas).
The workshop focused on more than ten leading community conservation initiatives, including Native Forest Reserves, Community Use Zones (co-management with state protected areas), reforestation, eco-tourism, and natural resource-based enterprises. It used Open Space Technology to identify, explore, and brainstorm next steps on a range of key issues such as land, sustainable use of natural resources, economic opportunities, and leadership.
During the week of 17 June, 2013, the Council of the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) convened its 44th meeting at the headquarters of the World Bank in Washington, D.C. Prior to the start of the meeting, a GEF Council Consultation Meeting with was held with Civil Society Organizations on Monday, 17 June 2013. Naoko Ishii, CEO and Chairperson of the GEF, noted that while progress had been made regarding CSO engagement with the GEF, more could be done in this area. More information on the CSO Consultation meeting can be found here. From 18 June to 20 June 2013, the Council of the GEF met to address a variety of issues at its 44th meeting. These included approval of the work programme and budget for the GEF Evaluation Office as well as a discussion on the GEF's role regarding synergies among multilateral environmental agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention to Combat Desertification. The Council of the GEF also approved a decision for Mexico to host the fifth Assembly of the GEF. More information on this meeting can be found here and the IISD summary report can be found here.
Tuesday, 18 June 2013
A new opinion piece, published on 18 June by Natural Justice and the Berne Declaration, sharply criticises the European Commission’s draft EC Regulation 2012/0278 (COD) to implement the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing in the European Union (EU). By excluding a significant category of genetic resources (GRs) from the scope of the regulation, the Draft fails to implement the main objective of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol: the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of GRs and associated traditional knowledge (TK). In addition it will lead to greater legal uncertainty for users, allow for unfair competitive practices and, in the long run, lead provider countries to implement more burdensome access procedures to GRs.
The ENVI Committee of the European Parliament will vote on the Draft Regulation on the 4th of July, with a final draft expected to be tabled in the European Parliament in October 2013. In the Draft Regulation, user obligations would only apply to GRs and associated TK that have been physically accessed in the country of origin after the entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol. This implementation would be in sharp contrast to the large majority of existing ABS laws in provider countries where the utilisation of GRs and associated TK also triggers the obligation to share benefits, based on prior informed consent and mutually agreed terms. The European Commission’s narrow and biased interpretation of the Nagoya Protocol and subsequent national implementation is likely to have a number of very serious consequences:
- First, a significant share of GRs and associated TK used in the EU will not be covered by the Draft Regulation. This will undermine the objective of the Nagoya Protocol to share benefits equitably and fairly, as well as legalise biopiracy.
- Second, individual users of GRs and TK will not be provided with legal certainty, something they have long sought. Indeed, scenarios are likely to emerge where the utilisation of GRs and TK may be legal under EU law, but illegal under the law of the provider country. This could result in a user being in compliance with EU obligations under the new Access and Benefit Sharing regulations, but nevertheless subject to prosecution in a provider country upon entering its territory. Nobody has an interest in such a scenario.
- Third, a functioning global ABS system can only be based on mutual trust between providers and users. The current wording of the Draft Regulation will undermine this trust and is likely to lead to stricter access conditions in provider countries, thereby making research and development (R&D) increasingly bureaucratic and burdensome for European users. One of the underlying objectives of the Nagoya Protocol, namely to facilitate access for R&D, would subsequently not be reached and a valuable opportunity to incentivise the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity would be missed.
We therefore urge the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission to enact a regulation that is line with the objective of the Nagoya Protocol and ensures that all related utilisation that takes place after the Nagoya Protocol comes into force complies with the access and benefit sharing rules of provider countries. The ENVI Committee Rapporteur made several proposals for amendments in this regard. Only by doing so can trust be built between user and provider countries, legal certainty established, and the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity advanced.
Access or Utilisation – What Triggers User Obligations? A Comment on the Draft Proposal of the European Commission on the Implementation of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing, can be downloaded on the websites of the Berne Declaration and Natural Justice.
For more information, please contact: François Meienberg (the Berne Declaration) at food (at) evb.ch, or Johanna von Braun (Natural Justice) at Johanna (at) naturaljustice.org.
Monday, 17 June 2013
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On 16 June, Harry Jonas (Natural Justice) joined Lanash Thanda and Dorothy Lim (Borneo Conservancy Initiative) at a community workshop in Melangkap, Sabah, Malaysia. The participants discussed a range of issues, including their local governance systems and women's contributions to the transmission of traditional knowledge.
Sunday, 16 June 2013
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From 14-15 June, Holly Shrumm (Natural Justice) attended a national consultation in Kinarut with women from East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak) on human rights in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region. The consultation was organised by Land Empowerment Animals People (LEAP) and the Women's Aid Organisation, with support from the Southeast Asian Women's Caucus in ASEAN (Women's Caucus).
The two-day consultation included the following topics and activities:
- Introduction to the Women's Caucus,
- Introduction to ASEAN and its human rights mechanisms, including the ASEAN Charter and Human Rights Declaration, ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights, ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children, and ASEAN Committee on the Implementation of the Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers,
- Open Space Technology to explore women's priority issues in East Malaysia,
- Introduction to UN human rights mechanisms, including legally binding instruments ratified by Malaysia, and particular focus on the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,
- Discussion of strategies and plans for the Women's Caucus in East Malaysia, including advocacy strategies to use regional and international mechanisms, and
- Group feedback and circle of support and solidarity.
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