UN CALLS FOR STRENGTHENING OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS IN ARMED CONFLICT

New York, Nov 6 2009 6:10PM
Environmental protection laws in times of conflict should be clarified, strengthened and enforced o better protect States’ natural assets during times of war, according to a report released today by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

The report, drawing on the expertise of 20 legal specialists, underlines the need to modernize international law regulating warfare, and include a new legal instrument that will “demilitarize” and protect ecosystems such as groundwater aquifers, agricultural and grazing lands, parks, national forests and habitats of endangered species.

International law regulating warfare was developed in an era of State-against-State conflicts, but today the overwhelming majority of conflicts are internal, meaning that many environmental provisions are not applicable.

"I call on Member States to clarify and expand law on environmental protection in times of war,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message released today.

“Existing legal instruments should be adapted to reflect the predominantly internal nature of today's armed conflicts.”

While the Geneva Convention addresses environmental protection, experts deem its wording too “stringent and imprecise,” and recommend that the threshold for environmental damage be defined as severe environmental impacts over several hundred square kilometers and damage that persists for a period of several months or over a season.

At the outset of any conflict, critical natural resources and areas of ecological importance would be delineated and designated as “demilitarized zones,” according to the report, entitled Protecting the Environment during Armed Conflict: An Inventory and Analysis of International Law.

“Destroying and damaging the natural assets and ecological infrastructure of a country or community should be an issue of highest humanitarian concern,” said Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director.

“The loss of freshwaters and grazing lands to croplands and forests not only leads to direct suffering, but also undermines the survival, the livelihoods and the opportunities for people to recover during and after a conflict,” he added.

The report calls on the General Assembly to request the International Law Commission to carry out a review of the existing laws relating to the environment and conflict, and to create a UN body to monitor violations and process compensation for environmental damage.

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UN AGENCIES LAUNCH CAMPAIGN LIFTING THE LID ON THE DAMAGING IMPACT OF CORRUPTION

New York, Nov 6 2009 6:10PM
A United Nations campaign kicked off today aimed at stopping the rot of corruption and exposing the corrosive effect it has on the economic and social well-being of people around the world.

Through a series of six posters and online information on a range of issues from vote rigging and embezzlement of funds to subverting the judicial system and obstructing access to education, the UN initiative raises awareness of how corruption blocks progress towards internationally agreed anti-poverty targets for poor countries, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (<"http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2009/November/corruption-is-a-crime-against-development-says-new-un-campaign-.html">UNODC) and the UN Development Fund (<"http://www.undp.org/">UNDP) launched the campaign – “Your NO Counts” which calls on individuals to take a stand against corruption – ahead of next week’s gathering of countries signed up to a legally-binding anti-corruption treaty.

The week-long meeting of over two-thirds of the 192 UN Member States which have ratified the Convention against Corruption will be held in Doha, Qatar, to discuss the implementation of the treaty.

The Convention, overseen by UNODC, helps countries ensure judicial integrity, improve legislation and develop strategies to fight corruption effectively.

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UN ‘S ASIA-PACIFIC GATHERING WRAPS UP WITH CALL FOR BETTER TRADE DEAL FOR POORER STATES

New York, Nov 6 2009 7:10PM
Exports from the world’s poorest countries should be granted duty- and quota-free access to markets, according to government officials, economists and academics attending a regional United Nations trade meeting as they warned against a turn towards protectionist policies.

More than 100 participants at the first session of the Committee on Trade and Investment of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (<"http://www.unescap.org/unis/press/2009/nov/g89.asp">ESCAP), which wrapped up today in Bangkok, said protectionism could undermine the multilateral trading system and delay recovery from the global economic crisis.

They called for the poorest States, classified as least developed countries (LDCs), to be granted better export rights, even without waiting for the completion of the so-called Doha round of negotiations on reducing international trade barriers.

ESCAP Executive Secretary Noeleen Heyzer told the gathering that they were enormous opportunities for growth in South-South trade and investment, but high tariffs and procedural obstacles were the biggest stumbling blocks to that goal.

Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), said the Asia-Pacific region must not let the recovery from the current economic crisis be a jobless one.

“This financial crisis has turned into a social crisis for some countries in the Asia-Pacific region, with job losses and deterioration in social well-being,” he said.

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