Home images copyright of IFAD


Links on Trade & Environment

General I Fisheries I Biotechnology I IPRs I Forests

General

Info Sources
  • European Community Access and Benefit-sharing Portal aims to help the EC achieving the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity. It contain information on EC policy and legislative measures related to ABS as well as links to web pages of international organisations active in this field.

  • Biotechnology and Biosafety SDRR Website. The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO's) Research and Technology Development Service (SDRR) is involved in a number of biotechnology- and biosafety- related activities, including implementing projects to strengthen national capacities in biosafety and organizing workshops and training courses at the national and regional level. This recently launched SDDR website provides information on these activities.

  • ClimateArk - Climate Change Portal is a Climate Change Portal and Search Engine for non- commercial, educational purposes. It is dedicated to promoting public policy that addresses global climate change through reductions in carbon dioxide and other emissions, renewable energy, energy conservation and ending deforestation.

  • CodexAfrique provides information on the activities of the Codex in the African region and encourages the discussions and the exchange of information between the sessions of the Codex through its forum and its monthly bulletins. Available in English and French.

  • EcoEarth - Environmental Portal & Search Engine is an information gateway aimed at empowering the movement for environmental sustainability

  • Environmental Information System - Trade and Environment provides links to environmental legislations, resources on trade in environmental services, industry news and data, and links to other information sources. Maintained by the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.

  • IISD Linkages is provided by the International Institute for Sustainable Development. It is designed to be an electronic clearing-house for information on past and upcoming international meetings related to environment and development policy.

  • The Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Union provides customer-driven scientific and technical support for the conception, development, implementation and monitoring of EU policies. As a service of the European Commission, the JRC functions as a reference centre of science and technology for the Union.

  • Open J-Gate is an electronic gateway to global literature in an open access domain with access too millions of journal articles available online. It is also a database of journal literature, indexed from 3000+ open access journals, with links to full text at Publisher sites.

  • Water Conserve: Water Conservation Portal is an information portal providing news, alerts, a search engine, chatrooms and other water policy resources.

  • The Water Observatory is a information gateway run by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy that includes news, analysis and announcements relating to water policy.
Intergovernmental Bodies
[trade-related Multilateral Environmental Agreements]
  • Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) aims to accelerate the economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region, and to promote regional peace and stability. Its members include Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. [Environment Section]

  • Codex Alimentarius Commission was created in 1963 by FAO and WHO to develop food standards, guidelines and related texts such as codes of practice under the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme. The main purposes of this Programme are protecting health of the consumers and ensuring fair trade practices in the food trade, and promoting coordination of all food standards work undertaken by international governmental and non-governmental organisations.
  • International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is the world's largest developer of standards. It is a network of the national standards institutes of 148 countries, on the basis of one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system. [WTO, ISO & World Trade]

  • Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) is an international organization created by Canada, Mexico and the United States under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) under NAFTA. The CEC was established to address regional environmental concerns, help prevent potential trade and environmental conflicts, and to promote the effective enforcement of environmental law.

  • Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) groups 30 member countries sharing a commitment to democratic government and the market economy. Best known for its publications and its statistics, its work covers economic and social issues from macroeconomics, to trade, education, development and science and innovation. [Trade & Environment section]

  • South Centre has grown out of the work and experience of the South Commission and its follow-up office, and from recognition of the need for enhanced South-South co-operation. It is intended to meet the need for analysis of development problems and experience, as well as to provide intellectual and policy support required by developing countries for collective and individual action in the international arena.

  • UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) was created in December 1992 to ensure effective follow-up of United Nations Conference on Environment and Development; to monitor and report on implementation of the Earth Summit agreements at the local, national, regional and international levels. It is a functional commission of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), with 53 members.

  • UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was established in 1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body. It is the principal organ of the United Nations General Assembly dealing with trade, investment and development issues. The main goals are to maximize the trade, investment and development opportunities of developing countries and assist them in their efforts to integrate into the world economy on an equitable basis. [Trade, Environment & Development Branch]
  • UNEP-UNCTAD Capacity-Building Task Force on Trade, Environment and Development (CBTF) aims to strengthen the capacities of countries, particularly developing countries and countries with economies in transition, to effectively address trade-environment-development issues

  • UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) was founded in 1947. As one of the five regional commissions of the United Nations, it aims to to encourage greater economic cooperation among its member States. [Environment] [Trade Development & Timber]

  • UN Environment Programme (UNEP) works to encourage sustainable development by way of sound environmental practices. Its activities cover a wide range of issues, from the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems, the promotion of environmental science and information, to an early warning and emergency response capacity to deal with environmental disasters and emergencies. UNEP has an Economics and Trade Programme (ETP), which seeks to clarify the relationship among trade, environment and development in order to design mutually supportive policies. [Economics & Trade Branch]

  • World Bank aims to fight poverty and improve the living standards of people in the developing world. It is a development Bank which provides loans, policy advice, technical assistance and knowledge sharing services to low and middle income countries to reduce poverty.

  • World Health Organization (WHO) is a United Nations organization specializing in health issues. Its mandate seeks freedom from disease and better health for the human population worldwide. [Globalization section]

  • World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world's trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business. [Committee on Trade and Environment]
Non-Governmental Organisations
top

International

  • Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration (ETC), formerly Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI), is dedicated to the conservation and sustainable advancement of cultural and ecological diversity and human rights. To this end, ETC group supports socially responsible developments of technologies useful to the poor and marginalized and it addresses international governance issues and corporate power.

  • Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) undertakes and promotes research on issues of social and economic justice. It produces research reports, books, opinion pieces, fact sheets and other publications, including The Monitor, a monthly digest of progressive research and opinion.

  • Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is a private, nonprofit organisation dedicated to advancing cooperation between nations and promoting active international engagement by the United States. Founded in 1910, its work is nonpartisan and dedicated to achieving practical results. [Trade, Equity & Development]

  • Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) is a public interest, not-for-profit environmental law firm founded in 1989 to strengthen international and comparative environmental law and policy around the world. CIEL provides a full range of environmental legal services in both international and comparative national law, including: policy research and publication, advice and advocacy, education and training, and institution building.

  • Christian Aid is an agency of the churches in the UK and Ireland. It supports local organisations, which are best placed to understand local needs, as well as giving help on the ground through 16 overseas offices. Christian Aid believes in strengthening people to find their own solutions to the problems they face. It strives for a new world transformed by an end to poverty and campaigns to change the rules that keep people poor. [Environment & Sustainable Development Issues]

  • CleanTrade is a website focused on the relationship between international trade and alien invasive species.

  • Council of Canadians is Canada's pre-eminent citizens' watchdog organization, founded in 1985. Strictly non-partisan, the Council lobbies Members of Parliament, conducts research, and runs national campaigns aimed at putting some of the country's most important issues into the spotlight: safeguarding social programs, promoting economic justice, renewing our democracy, asserting Canadian sovereignty, advancing alternatives to corporate-style free trade, and preserving our environment. [Trade Campaign]

  • Consumers International supports, links and represents consumer groups and agencies all over the world. It has a membership of over 250 organisations in 115 countries. It strives to promote a fairer society through defending the rights of all consumers, especially the poor, marginalised and disadvantaged, by supporting and strengthening member organisations and the consumer movement in general; and by campaigning at the international level for policies which respect consumer concerns. [Trade & Economics]

  • Forest Trends is a non-profit organisation which aims to maintain and restore forest ecosystems by promoting incentives that diversify trade in the forest sector, moving beyond exclusive focus on lumber and fiber to a broader range of products and services.
  • Foundation for International Law and Development (FIELD) is a non-governmental organisation bringing together public international lawyers committed to the promotion of environmental protection and sustainable development through law. It promotes the development of the law through research; the dissemination of the law through teaching, training and publishing; and the application of the law through advocacy, advice and assistance.

  • Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is a federation of autonomous environmental organizations from all over the world. Its members, in 68 countries, campaign on the urgent environmental and social issues, while simultaneously aiming to catalyse a shift toward sustainable societies. . [Trade, Environment & Sustainability Programme]

  • Germanwatch International is a non-profit, non-partisan, non-governmental "North-South initiative", actively engaged in directing German political policy towards sustainability for the countries of the South as well as those of the North.

  • International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) was established in Geneva in September 1996 to contribute to a better understanding of development and environment concerns in the context of international trade.As an independent non-profit and non-governmental organisation, it plays a unique systemic role as a provider of original, non-partisan reporting and facilitation services at the intersection of international trade and sustainable development.

  • International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) aims to advance policy recommendations on international trade and investment, economic policy, climate change, measurement and indicators, and natural resource management to make development sustainable. [Trade & Investment] [IISD Linkages - reporting on trade and investment]

  • IUCN - The World Conservation Union aims to build bridges between governments and NGOs, science and society, local action and global policy. It is truly a world force for environmental governance. Its members from some 140 countries include over 70 States, 100 government agencies, and 750-plus NGOs.[Working Group on Environment, Trade and Investment (GETI)] [Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP)]

  • National Wildlife Federation (NWF), which was founded in 1936, is the largest and oldest protector of wildlife in the US. With more than four million members and supporters, NWF is committed to educating and empowering people from all walks of life to protect wildlife and habitat for future generations.

  • Oxfam is a confederation of twelve non-governmental organizations working together in more than 80 countries to find lasting solutions to poverty, suffering and injustice. The Oxfams are strategic funders of development projects; provide emergency relief in times of crisis; and campaign for social and economic justice. [Make Trade Fair Campaign]

  • Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) aims to bridge science and policy in the field of environment and development at local, national, regional and global scales. It is an independent, international research institute specializing in sustainable development and environment issues, working at local, national, regional and global policy levels.

  • Women's Environmental and Development Organization (WEDO) is an international advocacy organization that seeks to increase the power of women worldwide as policymakers at all levels in governments, institutions and forums to achieve economic and social justice, a healthy and peaceful planet, and human rights for all. [Economic & Social Justice]

  • WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the planet's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity; ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable; and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption. [Trade & Investment]

  • Unisféra International Centre is an independent not-for-profit research centre based in Montreal, Canada. Its mission is to contribute to the advancement of knowledge on sustainable development law and policy, with a focus on the links between socio-economic development and the environment.

  • The Varda Group offers strategic advice and campaigning expertise across a wide range of environmental and social issues. Consultancy services are provided by Varda BV (The Netherlands) and Varda Desarrollo Sostenible SL (Spain). In addition, Stichting Varda, a not-for- profit non-governmental organisation, carries out independent campaign initiatives.

Africa

  • African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) is an international inter-governmental policy research and training organization located in Nairobi, Kenya. The Centre's activities focus on the implementation of Agenda 21 and related conventions on biological diversity, climate change and desertification.

  • Environnement et développement du tiers-monde (enda) s'est constituée en 1978 comme organisation internationale à caractère associatif et à but non lucratif. D'une manière générale, enda cherche à valoriser les connaissances et les instruments du développement local, aussi bien dans le domaine matériel que dans celui des idées. Cela consiste à identifier et à appuyer les initiatives populaires porteuses de développement - notamment en termes d'organisations.

  • Southern and Eastern African Trade Information and Negotiations Initiative (SEATINI) is an African initiative to strengthen Africa's capacity to take a more effective part in the emerging global trading system and to better manage the process of Globalization. It become an institute through the resolution of the Board of Trustees at their meeting on the 4th of August 2001. The mission is to strengthen Africa in World Trade: For an open, equitable, rule-based, transparent, secure, non-discriminatory and predictable trading system.

  • Trade Law Centre for Southern Africa (TRALAC) is an independent not-for-profit company.The organisaiton provides in-depth research on international trade law matters, access to trade law information and news, advice on trade law matters via the web, as well as workshops and short training courses on a range of trade issues.

Asia

  • Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) is an independent, public interest organisation which aims to increase public awareness on science, technology, environment and development. The Centre was started in 1980.

  • Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS) works in four operational areas: consumer protection, which includes accountability, regulatory reforms etc; trade and development, which include investment and competition policies; sustainable production and consumption, including consumer protection; and rural consumers and women empowerment. [Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment (CITEE)]

  • Focus on the Global South is a program of development policy research, analysis and action. Focus engages in research, analysis, advocacy and grassroots capacity building on critical issues. It was founded in 1995 and is currently attached to the Chulalongkorn University Social Research Institute (CUSRI) in Bangkok, Thailand. [Focus on Trade]

  • Indian Institute of Foreign Trade was set up in 1963 by the Government of India as an autonomous organisation to help professionalise the country's foreign trade management and increase exports by developing human resources; generating, analysing and disseminating data; and conducting research. [Environmental Information System - Trade and Environment]

  • South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE) is a recognised, registered, non-profit, non-governmental organisation launched in 1994. It aims to enable South Asian communities to benefit from and minimise the harms of changing regional and global economic paradigm.

  • Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) aims to catalyse the transition towards sustainable development, defined as the enhancement of peace, social justice and well-being, within and across generations. The Sustainable Development Policy Institute provides the global sustainable development community with representation from Pakistan as well as South Asia as a whole.

  • Third World Network (TWN) is an independent non-profit international network of organisations and individuals involved in issues relating to development, the Third World and North-South issues. Its objectives are to conduct research on economic, social and environmental issues pertaining to the South; to organise and participate in seminars; and to provide a platform representing broadly Southern interests and perspectives at international fora.

Latin America

  • Centro de Derecho Ambiental y de los Recursos Naturales (CEDARENA) - The Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center, Costa Rica. The purpose of CEDARENA is to harmonise the relationships between human beings and nature to improve the quality of life. The mission of the association is to consolidate environmental sustainability principles and values through the development and practice of Law and Policy.

  • Centro Ecuatoriano de Derecho Ambiental (CEDA) was established in May, 1996, as a non-profit organisation. This group is aimed at promoting and disseminating Environmental Law and its enforcement at the national and international levels, as an effective means to protect the environment both in Ecuador and in the planet as a whole. [Comercio y Medio Ambiente]

  • Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental (CEMDA) es una organización mexicana que tiene como principal objetivo fungir como un CENTRO, a través del cual los distintos sectores sociales puedan apoyarse para comprender mejor el Derecho Ambiental y darle una aplicación útil en sus actividades propias, con una visión de desarrollo sustentable.

  • Comunidad Andina (Andean Community) is a subregional organisation endowed with an international legal status, which is made up of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela and the bodies and institutions comprising the Andean Integration System. [Sustainable Development Strategy]

  • Fundación Ecuatoriana de Estudios Ecológicos (EcoCiencia), Ecuador. Su misión es “conservar la diversidad biológica mediante la investigación científica, la recuperación del conocimiento tradicional y la educación ambiental, impulsando formas de vida armoniosas entre el ser humano y la naturaleza”.

  • Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano (FFLA) es una organización no gubernamental, de derecho privado, sin fines de lucro, reconocida ante el Gobierno de Ecuador en febrero de 1994. Nuestra misión es impulsar la articulación del cambio hacia el desarrollo sostenible en América Latina vinculando actores e intereses diversos en procesos de reflexión y diálogo para la construcción de consensos.
NGO Networks on T&E
top
  • Grupo Zapallar es un grupo de trabajo regional, informal y multisectorial que involucra directamente a más de 45 personas de nueve países sudamericanos preocupados por los aspectos ambientales de la política comercial en la región.

  • Regional International Networking Group (RING) is a global alliance of research and policy organisations that seeks to enhance and promote sustainable development through a programme of collaborative research, dissemination and policy advocacy.

  • Trade Knowledge Network (TKN) is composed of research and policy institutions in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America that are exploring the connection between trade and sustainable development and working to ensure that increased international trade can contribute to sustainable development in their countries and regions.
Academic & Think Tank
top

Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy

Harvard Center for International Development [Trade & Environment]

American University Trade and Environment Database

University of Manchester Institute for Development Policy & Management [Sustainability Impact Assessment of WTO Multilateral Trade Negotiations]

Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA)

www.tradeandenvironment.com

Government Agencies
top

Canadian Dept. of Foreign Affairs and International Trade [Trade & Environment] [Initial Environmental Assessment of WTO Negotiations]

US Trade Representative [Trade & Environment] [Environmental Reviews of Trade Agreements]

European Commission (Trade) [Trade & Environment] [Sustainability Impact Assessment] [Civil Society Dialogue]

 
{BaseDePage}
 

© ICTSD 2004 - Last Update: 23-Jul-2007