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The report analyzes comparative water legislation from countries including Canada, Germany, China, and the US to establish common legal principles. It argues that water is traditionally a public asset subject to government control, public ownership, and permanent regulation. Key principles identified include the 'doctrine of effective and beneficial use,' the requirement for environmental impact assessments, and the state's power to amend water rights ex-post to protect public health and the environment. The author suggests that grounding water management in these shared national legal principles can help states resist claims in investment arbitration when enacting new environmental or efficiency regulations.

The document examines the link between 'communication poverty' and social exclusion, asserting that access to information is a fundamental human right necessary for poverty reduction. It highlights how women are doubly disadvantaged by gendered poverty and limited media representation. The guide advocates for a shift in mass media reporting to include poverty-related issues and promotes 'citizens' media'—such as blogs and podcasts—as a means for marginalized groups to challenge power dynamics. It provides global examples of communication projects in Mexico, Fiji, Argentina, Egypt, Mongolia, Congo, Colombia, and Uganda that use audiovisuals and ICTs to address environmental, health, and social justice issues.

The document examines how national governments can engage the private sector to support climate adaptation, noting that business participation depends on a strong business case. It suggests that governments must move beyond treating the private sector as a homogenous unit and instead target specific actors—such as small and medium enterprises or specialized solution providers—whose interests align with public goods. While 'win-win' scenarios exist in sectors like water purification and agriculture, the paper warns of 'negative alignment' where private investments can lead to land grabbing or the displacement of local populations. It recommends a policy mix of incentives, procurement contracts, and collaboration with civil society to ensure private actions support rather than undermine community resilience.

The report examines the barriers and opportunities for implementing life cycle costing (LCC) in sustainable public procurement (SPP). It finds that while LCC is used in some industrialized nations, its application is often non-systematic and hindered by conflicting capital and revenue budgets, a lack of procurer expertise, and data gaps. The authors argue that LCC should be integrated into high-level public expenditure policy to shift the procurement mindset from 'best value for money' at purchase to 'best value across the asset life cycle.'

The document evaluates the 2009 OECD checklist on private sector participation in water infrastructure. It acknowledges positive additions regarding responsible business conduct and sustainability but criticizes the checklist for contradictions regarding decentralization, a perfunctory treatment of international investment arbitration risks, and the omission of the 'duty of efficiency' as a legal requirement for providers.

The report examines the evolution of public utility regulation, contrasting legal-based regulation with contract-based concessions. It argues that contract-based systems, particularly in water and sanitation, are prone to opportunistic bidding, under-investment, and frequent renegotiations. The author advocates for the application of common principles of law—including efficiency, good faith, and the ability to implement ex-post regulation—to protect public interests and ensure service sustainability, noting a significant gap between these national regulatory standards and the decisions of international investment arbitration courts.

The document examines Brazil's shift toward a more ambitious, multi-polar foreign policy under President 'Lula' da Silva, characterized by a desire for UN Security Council reform, strengthened South-South cooperation, and a proactive role as a democratic stabilizer in South America.

The document argues that South Africa's international credibility in climate negotiations is undermined by a domestic reliance on fossil fuels and a slow integration of climate considerations into economic policy. Using Robert Putnam's 'two-level game' framework, it highlights the tension between Level I (international negotiations) and Level II (domestic interests), particularly the influence of the coal and oil industries. While South Africa champions developing nations' interests globally, its domestic energy strategy continues to favour coal-fired power and coal-to-liquids technology. The paper suggests that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region offers untapped renewable energy potential that could help reconcile these competing imperatives.

The second Africa South America Summit, held on Margarita Island, Venezuela, aimed to strengthen South-South cooperation as a counterweight to Northern influence. Key outcomes included the formalization of the Bank of the South to reduce reliance on the World Bank and IMF, the establishment of a Radio of the South, and joint mining ventures between Venezuela and several African nations. While Brazil reported a significant increase in bilateral trade from $6 billion in 2003 to over $36 billion by 2009, the summit was marked by ideological divisions, with some leaders pursuing a radical anti-imperialist agenda while others, including South Africa and Brazil, adopted a more nuanced approach to international relations.

The document analyzes the 'fair and equitable treatment' (FET) standard in international investment agreements (IIAs), highlighting how vague treaty language allows arbitral tribunals to impose expansive obligations on host states. It contrasts the 'customary international law' approach with the 'autonomous' or 'plain meaning' approach, noting that the latter provides tribunals more discretion to sanction states for altering regulatory frameworks or failing to meet investor 'legitimate expectations'. The guide recommends that states use precise definitions, link FET to the minimum standard of treatment under customary international law, and include preambles that protect regulatory flexibility to avoid unpredictable legal outcomes.

The report examines how broadly worded provisions in international investment agreements (IIAs) enable investors to bypass domestic courts and initiate international arbitration for contractual disputes. It analyzes trends in IIA drafting among prolific signatories, reviews conflicting arbitral jurisprudence on 'umbrella' and 'dispute resolution' clauses, and evaluates the effectiveness of 'fork-in-the-road' clauses in preventing forum-shopping. The author concludes that while many existing IIAs expose host states to risks of multiple proceedings and inconsistent decisions, newer models—such as the Canadian model BIT—provide more effective drafting practices to mitigate these risks.

The Atlas of the Patagonian Sea identifies key marine environments used by 16 species of top predators, including albatrosses, petrels, penguins, and pinnipeds. By integrating over 283,600 satellite localisations, the report maps critical foraging areas on the continental shelf and slope, highlighting the urgent need for open-ocean conservation beyond coastal breeding sites. It identifies significant threats to biodiversity, such as overfishing, bycatch, and pollution, and argues for an integrated ecosystem management approach to protect the region's high biological productivity.

CIEL advocates for an international treaty on copyright exceptions and limitations, specifically to benefit the disabled, libraries, and education. The organization supports the World Blind Union's proposed treaty to improve cross-border access for the visually impaired and promotes open-source standards, such as the DAISY Standard, to accelerate innovation. CIEL criticizes the current Secretariat survey for lacking empirical depth and argues that discussions on a new internet broadcasting agreement are premature due to the significant digital divide between industrialized and developing countries.

The document is a participant list for the 16th IAI Conference of the Parties (CoP) Meeting, which took place in Bogotá, Colombia, on May 19-20, 2009. It identifies representatives from member countries, observers, lecturers, and IAI staff.

This document is a list of participants for the 27th Executive Council (EC) Meeting of the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), which took place in Bogotá, Colombia, on May 18, 2009.

The report evaluates the IAI's progress since 1994, highlighting its success in developing scientific capacity and high-quality natural science research. It identifies a critical need to improve the communication of scientific results to decision-makers and proposes a strategic focus on the human impacts of global change. The IAI intends to maintain its current broad scientific agenda while enhancing the methodology of implementation to foster deeper interaction between interdisciplinary scientists and policy-makers across the Americas.

The document contends that GM crops are not a solution to global hunger, as hunger is caused by poverty and lack of resource access rather than production deficits. It asserts that GM crops do not increase yields—and in some cases decrease them—while increasing pesticide use and costs for farmers. The text highlights that the primary beneficiaries are biotech giants like Monsanto, which maximize profits through 'trait penetration' and rising seed and herbicide prices, while the model favors large-scale export agriculture over small-scale farmers.

The report examines the integration of sustainable development into Peru's trade policies, noting that external pressures from the EU and the US-Peru FTA drove the adoption of environmental and social clauses. While these clauses were accepted by the state to secure economic liberalization, they are viewed as opportunities by NGOs and labor unions. Implementation is hindered by labor market informality and institutional weakness, while the trade framework now shapes domestic debates on energy and agriculture.

The report examines how sustainable development issues are increasingly integrated into Brazil's trade and investment agendas despite official government resistance to linking these issues in multilateral negotiations. It highlights the role of agro-industrial sectors, international investment, and domestic political evolution in driving this shift, while noting the pressure from developed countries' unilateral standards.

Chile has actively integrated environmental and labor clauses into many of its free trade agreements, driven by foreign policy coherence, partner demands, and a desire to improve international competitiveness. However, these commitments are not reflected in its foreign direct investment (FDI) policies, and climate change is only beginning to be recognized as a significant trade factor. The report notes that deficiencies in national labor and environmental compliance persist, and suggests that Chile faces a risk of becoming a destination for carbon-intensive industries as developed nations reduce their own emissions.