By MS Suneetha and Balakrishna Pisupati

The third objective of the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) to ensure “the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, including by appropriate access to genetic resources...” has taken centre stage now with negotiations in full swing to develop an international regime on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) by the year 2010. While some progress has been achieved on negotiations related to access regulations, discussions are still evolving as countries are found to be cautious to implement measures related to benefit sharing.

UNU-IAS,  April 2009, 36 pages
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The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) with the support of the Government of Ireland have carried out case studies on access to genetic resources and benefit‑sharing (ABS) arrangements in four African countries namely Botswana, Ghana, Uganda and Zambia. These studies exemplify the implementation of existing ABS arrangements and mechanisms in the context of the Bonn Guidelines adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity at its sixth meeting, in April 2002.

Government of Ireland, UNEP, UNU-IAS, May 2008, 148 pages
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Written by Christian Webersik and Clarice Wilson

Currently, one of the most critical issues for Africa is food security. At the same time, environmental sustainability is being lost. In addition, human-induced climate change threatens agricultural productivity. This report provides an overview of some of the environmental issues facing Africa and examines the role of science and technology cooperation in meeting these challenges. An environmental performance country analysis is used to identify areas of best practice, as well as areas of action.

Yokohama, UNU-IAS, May 2008, 25 pages
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Written by Brendan Tobin, Geoff Burton, and Jose Carlos Fernandez-Ugalde

Proposals have been made for a variety of certification systems to act as the basis for an international system of documentation to provide evidence of PIC and MAT relating to access and use of genetic resources and traditional knowledge. This study provides a comparative analysis of all four existing proposals and examines the challenges for development of a practical, feasible and cost effective certificate system.

Yokohama, UNU-IAS, April 2008, 70 pages,
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Written by Sarah Laird, Catherine Monagle, and Sam Johnston

Yokohama, UNU-IAS, April 2008, 58 pages
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By David Leary

The UNU-IAS Report Bioprospecting in the Arctic examines the extent and nature of bioprospecting in the Arctic. It argues that there is significant interest in the biotechnology potential of Arctic biodiversity. In many cases this potential has moved beyond the research of the academic community to commercialisation by industry. In fact given the number of companies involved in research on or the actual exploitation of biotechnology based on Arctic genetic resources (fourty three companies in total) one clear conclusion is that this industry, in various forms, is well established. This conclusion is supported by the existence of more than thirty-one patents or patent applications based on Arctic genetic resources.

Yokohama, UNU-IAS, April 2008, 45 pages 
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By Sam Johnston, Catherine Monagle, Jessica Green with Ruth Mackenzie

The purpose of this Assessment, undertaken by UNU-IAS from 2004 - 2007, was to provide a neutral, independent and objective assessment of the various internationally funded training programmes for biosafety and biotechnology, especially to the extent that it is necessary for biosafety, in the developing world. This Assessment does not advocate the use, or avoidance, of modern biotechnology. Rather it seeks to examine whether capacity building activities are delivering to developing countries the capacity to make and implement choices about biosafety and biotechnology.  

Yokohama, UNU-IAS, April 2008, 233 pages
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This report was prepared by Dr. Balakrishna Pisupati

A comprehensive (global review) of NBSAPs' implementation is now timely given that it has been 15 years since the CBD's obligations came into force.  However, until such a global review is undertaken, regional reviews and national experiences provide some lessons which can guide further action.  This publication advocates the development of sub-national biodiversity action plans (BSAPs) as a planning solution to the weaknesses of a large national planning and implementation process.

Yokohama, UNU-IAS, December 2007, 41 pages
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Renewable Energy Technologies in Developing Countries - Lessons from Mauritius, China and Brazil

This report reviews three renewable energy developments that have taken place in developing countries without significant foreign investment. It shows that renewable energy planning should be approached strategically by developing countries, with specific technological strategies grounded in national industrial capacity and energy resources.

Yokohama, UNU-IAS, 2006, 24 pages
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Implementing the Ecosystem Approach in Open Ocean and Deep Sea Environments: An Analysis of Stakeholders, their Interests and Existing Approaches

This report provides a first step towards a comprehensive survey and dialogue on mapping stakeholders’ interests in open-ocean and deep sea environments for improved conservation, sustainable use and equitable sharing of the benefits derived from ocean spaces and their resources.

Yokohama, UNU-IAS, 2006, 44 pages
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2005

This report examines the debate on the evolution of the precautionary principle in the context of the WTO. It clarifies proposals to enhance the incorporation of this principle in the rules of the multilateral trading system and addresses the tensions between the WTO and multi-lateral environmental agreements (MEAs). The report analyses how the WTO is responding to the challenges posed by its Member States in raising the precautionary principle before dispute panels.

Yokohama, UNU-IAS, 2005, 24 pages

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Revisiting Women's Participation in Science and Technology: Emerging Challenges and Agenda for Reform

Women’s involvement in science and technology encounters bias in regard to disciplines and academic or professional level of responsibility. This report explores how women’s role in advancing and using science and technology for society could be improved, and how science and technology impact women.

Yokohama, UNU-IAS, 2005, 19 pages

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Time-Space Telescoping and Urban Transitions in the Asia Pacific

This report shows the distinction between environmental conditions among developing cities in the Asia Pacific and those of industrialized countries, using the theory of "time space telescoping". This hypothesis suggests that due to shifts in the driving forces of change, environmental challenges in developing cities are occurring sooner, rising faster, and emerging more simulatneously than in developed cities.

Yokohama, UNU-IAS, 2005, 39 pages

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Food and Nutrition Biotechnology: Current Achievements, Prospects and Perceptions

This report on biotechnology, food and nutrition is a consolidation of knowledge in potentials, opportunities and developmental processes in applying biotechnology for improvements in human nutrition.

Yokohama, UNU-IAS, 2005, 36 pages

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Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology: Current Achievements, Prospects and Perceptions

This report discusses the so-called 'white' biotechnology, or industrial and environmental biotechnology, a broad and expanding field that includes making enzymes with a variety of industrial uses that include the manufacture of bioplastics and biofuels and using micro-organisms and plants for the treatment of wastes and abatement of pollution.

Yokohama, UNU-IAS, 2005, 28 pages

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Mobilising for Education for Sustainable Development: Towards a global learning space base on regional centres of expertise

This report compiles concept papers, case studies, conference papers and speeches to convey the challenges of education for sustainable development (ESD) and ambitions of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. It highlights the roles of institutions and higher education in implementing ESD and presents case studies on the concept of Regional Centres of Expertise on ESD (RCE).

Yokohama, UNU-IAS, 2005, 102 pages

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This report provides a comprehensive review of the scientific, legal and policy issues involved in deep seabed bioprospecting. It examines the current scientific and commercial explorations occurring in the deep seabed, and offers an in-depth analysis of the relevant legal instruments, including the gaps in these laws.

Tokyo, UNU/IAS, 2005, 76 pages

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Jessica Green

This report synthesizes research about disenfranchisement conducted over the past year and a half by the UNU-IAS, together with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). It analyzes the obstacles facing both state and non-state actors from developing nations in their efforts to participate in the policy-making process, and proposes concrete measures to address this problem.

Tokyo, UNU/IAS, 2005, 36 pages

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This report reviews bioprospecting activities in Antarctica in relation to the relevant legal provisions of the Antarctic Treaty System and other international policies.

Tokyo, UNU-IAS, 2005, 31 pages

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This report outlines the research agenda for the Engaging the Disenfranchised Project. It examines the assumption that improving the participation of these actors from civil society and developing nations is essential to promoting the goals of sustainable development, and also considers how individual capacities, rules and norms affect the engagement of these disenfranchised actors.

Tokyo, UNU/IAS, 2004, 26 pages

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This report, emerging from the Agriculture for Peace project at UNU/IAS, attempts to examine linkages of important socio-economic concepts of peace and answer the broader question of whether dynamic agricultural development can have an impact on strengthening peace in conflict-prone countries.

Tokyo, UNU/IAS, 2004, 23 pages

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An updated version of a previous report presenting regional and national overviews on the state of biodiversity, access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing legislation, and the protection of traditional knowledge in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Tokyo, UNU/IAS, 2004, 44 pages

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This report provides an analysis of a number of case studies of existing databases and registers that have been developed to document traditional knowledge, identifying their effectiveness, possibilities and limitations for securing the protection of traditional knowledge.

Tokyo, UNU/IAS, 2004, 46 pages

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The second edition of a previously published report, which contains an entirely new chapter on disclosure or origin requirements in patent applications procedures. It also examines voluntary codes of conduct and certification schemes, import and transport regulation, access to justice, and the case for establishment of international standardised system of documentation for tracing gene flows.

Tokyo, UNU/IAS, 2003, 42 pages with Preface and Executive Summary in Spanish

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In the last fifteen years, the legal and policy framework for biodiversity research and prospecting and the way genetic resources are viewed, exchanged and used has been transformed while protected area managers are confronted with access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing issues on top of a multitude of other challenges they are facing. This report aims to assist protected area managers and policy makers in addressing this rapidly evolving area.

Tokyo, UNU/IAS, 2003, 37 pages

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This report answers the need for more information on the relation of biological prospecting in Antarctica to various international treaties responsible for governing bioprospecting activities; especially the Antarctic Treaty.

Tokyo, UNU/IAS, 2003, 24 pages

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A report presenting regional and national overviews of the state of biodiversity, access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing legislation, and the protection of traditional knowledge in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Tokyo, UNU/IAS, 2003, 36 pages

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Tokyo, UNU/IAS, 2003, 22 pages

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This report examines urban ecosystems analysis, highlighting its merits and suggesting tools and methods in which it can be applied to provide useful information to decision makers.

Tokyo, UNU/IAS, 2003, 16 pages

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Summarises the findings of the UNU/IAS project on the Sustainable Global Future, and addresses the challenges faced by the world in the goal to achieve global sustainability on every level.

Tokyo, UNU/IAS, 2002, 48 pages.

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Final Report

UNU/IAS Report submitted to the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg in August 2002.

Tokyo, UNU/IAS, 2002, 48 pages

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UNU Report submitted to the Fourth Global PrepCom to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in Bali in May 2002.

Tokyo, UNU/IAS, 2002, 36 pages.

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Preliminary Findings

UNU Report submitted to the Third Global PrepCom to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in New York in March 2002.

Tokyo, UNU/IAS, 2002, 40 pages

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Effective Pathways to Sustainable Development

UNU Report submitted to the Second Preparatory Committee Meeting in New York in the lead up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), outlining UNU's activities in implementing Agenda 21 as well as recommendations for consideration in WSSD.

Tokyo, UNU and UNU/IAS, 2002, 34 pages

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Breaking Down Barriers to Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific

UNU Report delivered as input into the Regional Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) Meeting for Asia and the Pacific from 27–29 November 2001 as part of the ongoing activities leading up to the Johannesburg Summit.

Tokyo, UNU and UNU/IAS, 2001, 20 pages

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Tokyo, UNU/IAS, 2000, 109 pages

This report was produced from over thirty academic papers, the deliberations of the first international conference on Inter–linkages, and from analysis done by a core group of contributors from UNU/IAS and UNU faculty folllowing the conference. It focuses on exploring the potential for a more integrated approach to environmental treaty making and environmental management.

Tokyo, UNU, UNU/IAS, GEIC, 1999, 31 pages.

Consolidates the research presented in two previous reports on Global Climate Governance which identified issues related to potential synergies and incompatibilities between the Kyoto Protocol and other multilateral regimes, and explored the practical implications of the key issues.

Tokyo, UNU, GEIC, UNU/IAS, 1999, 76 pages.

Tokyo, UNU/IAS, 1999, 174 pages.

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Based on nine commissioned papers by academics and experts in the field of Global Climate Governance, this report takes into account the linkages between the Kyoto Protocol and other international regimes.

Tokyo, UNU, GEIC and UNU/IAS, 1998, 48 pages.

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Report presented during a Special Session at COP4 in Buenos Aires; discusses inter-linkages between the climate change regime and other relevant multilateral regimes in the context of international law and policy.

Tokyo, UNU, GEIC and UNU/IAS, 1998, 139 pages.

Examines the background of the negotiations leading up to COP3 and identifies the main actors, coalitions and issues, as well as providing a detailed analysis of the course of the Kyoto negotiations.

Tokyo, UNU/IAS, June 1998, 138 pages.