Open Forum
New Delhi, 25 March 2010
Environment
Watchdog
UN
PROPOSES WTO-STYLE BODY
By Dr P K Vasudeva
A global environmental watchdog
modelled on the powerful World Trade Organisation (WTO) could be formed as part
of any international climate change treaty, according to environment ministers
meeting in Bali recently. They agreed to form a new working group to
investigate proposed reforms to environmental governance procedures.
Speaking to reporters at the close
of the meeting, Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environment
Programme (UNEP), signalled there was growing support for the formation of a
new World Environment Organisation (WEO). "The status quo... is no longer
an option," he said in regard to the current international environmental
governance regime. Within the broader reform options, “the WEO concept is one
of them."
The 135 nations present at the
meeting had agreed to establish a new high-level ministerial group to assess
proposed reforms, which will convene within a few months. Concerns over
environmental governance emerged as one of the main sticking points at the Copenhagen
Summit of December 2009, where the US negotiators insisted that countries
should agree to some form of inspection scheme designed to ensure they are making
good on commitments to cut emissions. The proposals drew an angry response from
emerging economies such as China and India, which insisted that any such regime
would impinge upon their sovereignty.
Any proposals for a WEO are likely
to face similar concerns and Steiner was unable to provide details as to
whether the proposed watchdog would have the power to impose punitive measures
against countries that breach environmental rules in a manner similar to the
WTO.
However, the formation of the new
working group, which comes just days after the launch of a similar group tasked
with investigating approaches to increasing flows of climate funding for
developing countries, will fuel optimism that international negotiations are
regaining momentum after the Copenhagen Summit.
The
Environmental Working Group (EWG) of the US is an environmental organisation
that specializes in environmental research and advocacy in the areas of toxic
chemicals, agricultural subsidies, public lands, and corporate accountability.
EWG is a non-profit organization whose mission, according to their website, is
"to use the power of public information to protect public health and the
environment." Their funding is from "private foundations, individuals
and select corporations." The earlier EWG was founded in 1993 by Ken Cook
and Richard Wiles, and is headquartered in Washington DC. The UN EWG could be
formulated on similar lines with a few amendments based on discussions at
Copenhagen so that consensus of all nations is arrived at.
The EWG of the
US works on three main policy or issue areas: toxic chemicals and human health,
farming and agricultural subsidies, and public lands and natural resources. The
group’s largest focus is reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
When the act passed it declared safe some 62,000 chemicals already on the
market, even though there were little or no data to support this policy. Since
that time another 20,000 chemicals have been put into commerce in the United
States, also with little or no data to support their safety. EWG is working to
pass the Kid-Safe Chemical Act, which would requires that industrial chemicals
be safe for infants, kids and other vulnerable groups. The 52 per cent of EWG's
resources go to toxic chemicals and human health.
The EWG has
created a cosmetics safety database, which indexes and scores products based on
their ingredients. Their Guide to Pesticides in Produce lists 44 fruits and
vegetables based on the number of pesticides they were found to contain
according to US data. A series of studies testing for the presence of chemicals
in people's bodies is known as body burden. The organization has also
constructed a national database of tap water testing results from public water
utilities. Their work has extended to a variety of other chemicals, including
bisphenol A, perchlorate, mercury, flame retardants, and arsenic in treated
wood.
The EWG
publishes a database of agricultural subsidies and their recipients. Its Action
Fund advocates for farm bill reform in the form of decreased disaster payments
and subsidies for commodity crops, and increased funding for nutrition programmes,
conservation, specialty crops (i.e. fruits and vegetables), and organic
agriculture.
The 2010 Global Biodiversity
Challenge is perhaps the most important declaration ever to be made in support
of environmental protection for sustainable development. Achieving this target
will improve the living standards of millions of people and has the potential
to raise many from abject poverty.
The focus on human development is underlined by the words of Setijati
D.Sastrapradja, Chair, Natura Indonesiana, and one of the participants in the
conference. He said: “The 2010 target gives us indicators of success for our
efforts to reduce the loss of resources that support our lives. Without such a
target nobody knows how much biodiversity is left for the future of our people.
The biggest environmental problem is the greed of those who have the power to
exploit natural resources and their ignorance of the resulting problems –
flood, coral reef damage, timber species/biodiversity loss, land degradation,
freshwater scarcity – that are felt by common people. If the meeting in London
achieves one thing it should be to produce ways to influence the main
decision-makers to use biodiversity wisely.”
The organisation
investigates and publishes information regarding oil and gas drilling and
mining projects that may pose a threat to human health and the environment.
Additionally,
the EWG launched a cell phone radiation report in September 2009 that stated
while the long term effects of cell phone radiation are still be studied, there
is sufficient research that shows higher risk for brain and salivary gland
tumours among heavy cell phone users. It encouraged consumers to look up their
cell phone's radiation level, and to wear a headset when talking on the phone
to limit their exposure.
For the first time in a decade, the UNEP
meeting closed with the release of a formal declaration, which set out a series
of detailed policies, including commitments to ensure earthquake-stricken Haiti
is redeveloped in an environmentally sustainable manner. Significantly, the
declaration also proposed that environment ministers meet again in June to
discuss plans to develop a panel of scientists similar to the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to address biodiversity challenges. All eyes
would be on the deliberations---INFA
(Copyright, India News
and Feature Alliance)
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