Battle for turf

If the South wants to protect its interests against the power of the Bretton Woods institutions and WTO, it will need its own, equally powerful forum

Polluter says' principle

GEF should have been a liability fund, rather than a 'guilt fund' set up by the North to make up for the global damage it had caused

Free, not fair

Does a country have the right to demand that its domestic standards on environmental protection be applicable to all countries?

Wood-headed proposal

After almost 10 years of fighting for or against a forest convention, there is not even a common view on why forests are under threat and what …

Toxic travellers

Developing countries are wary of the proposed treaty as chemicals like DDT are still used in many malaria-prone regions for vector control

Rio's stepchild

Northern countries still see desertification as a local problem caused by population pressures rather than international trade patterns and …

Biodiversity

To energise the biodiversity convention, the world will have to first deal with difficult countries like the US

Boiling point

Climate change negotiations get emotional because carbon dioxide emissions are closely related to individual lifestyles - and to national …

No Go

The South managed to make its presence felt, but this was due to the US-Europe rift

Everybody's a Loser

The World Trade Organization's recent ministerial meet in Seattle, USA, will be remembered more for the protestors who turned the venue into a …

Growing organic tea in northeast India is a difficult task

Expert panel to study impact of climate change in India

Bad chemistry

Asbestos, agribusiness get a leg up

White asbestos finds backers at Rotterdam Convention

The China affair what it means to us

Iceland resumes whale meat export

UN lifts 3-year ban on Liberian timber exports

Russia proposes ban on sturgeon fishing

Malaysia lifts ban on export of long-tailed macaques

Public health over profits

Can green mean free?

Fair farming

The European Union buckles under the pressure of the developing countries to reduce agricultural subsidies

Trade truce

It was neither a victory for the North nor a defeat for the South. Environment took centrestage as the main bargaining chip, but the discussions …

In court

EU concerned over imports of GM protein used in animal feed by China