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Online Harms Act Letter - CAPE
The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment and other organizations have written to the Minister of Canadian Identity and Heritage urging the expansion of the Online Harms Act (OHA) to address disinformation and systemic risks posed by big tech platforms.
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Document type: Statement
PFAS Alert For Physicians & Health Care Professionals
This fact sheet from the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) outlines the health risks associated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), their prevalence in the Canadian population, and the current regulatory efforts to manage them as a chemical class.
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Document type: Fact sheet
National action is key to accelerating international progress on climate change
A statement by members of the Global Legislators’ Organisation (GLOBE) and other UK officials arguing that national and sub-national climate legislation is progressing faster than international negotiations and is essential for creating the political conditions necessary for a comprehensive global agreement in 2015.
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Document type: Statement
TAKING ACTION ON SUPPRESSED DEMAND
This policy brief by the LDC Environment Centre, supported by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN), argues for the inclusion of 'suppressed demand' in the baseline and monitoring methodologies of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). It contends that current CDM methodologies disadvantage Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and African nations by using actual constrained consumption as a baseline, which ignores the unmet needs of poor populations and reduces the volume of tradable carbon credits (CERs). The document outlines the barriers causing suppressed demand and calls for capacity building and the operationalization of guidelines adopted by the CDM Executive Board and the Conference of the Parties (CMP).
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Document type: Policy brief
TAKING ACTION ON SUPPRESSED DEMAND
This technical paper examines the concept of 'suppressed demand' within the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol, arguing that failing to account for unmet needs in low-income countries leads to underestimated baselines and marginalizes Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and African nations in the carbon market.
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Document type: Research paper
2014-05-30-fa11-s21-project-international-review-4d7ff58bb0ec9577.pdf
This report, produced for the South African Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT), provides an international review of air emission standards to support the implementation of Section 21 of the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act (NEM:AQA). It analyzes regulatory frameworks in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia (specifically New South Wales), with additional references to India, Japan, Poland, and China. The document recommends a phased approach to listing industrial activities and setting minimum emission standards based on Best Available Technology (BAT), while suggesting the integration of command-and-control measures with market-based mechanisms like emissions trading.
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Document type: Report
Análisis jurídico de las consecuencias de la determinación no consensuada de la OCDE sobre la enmienda de plásticos de Basilea
This legal opinion by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) analyzes the obligations of OECD members regarding the trade of plastic wastes following the OECD's failure to reach a consensus on incorporating the Basel Convention's Plastic Waste Amendments into the OECD Decision on the trade of wastes. The analysis concludes that plastic wastes classified as "other wastes" under the Basel Convention fall outside the scope of the OECD Decision, meaning OECD members who are Parties to the Basel Convention must apply Basel's control and prohibition mechanisms. CIEL further argues that separate agreements, such as those between the US and Canada or within the EU, fail to meet the equivalence requirements of Article 11 of the Basel Convention and are therefore invalid for bypassing Basel controls.
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Document type: Report
Assessing the Effects on Forests of Proposed Trade Liberalization in the Forest Product Sector
The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) submitted comments to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) arguing that proposed trade liberalization in the forest product sector could exacerbate forest degradation and loss. CIEL contends that the current U.S. environmental review process is inadequate and calls for the administration to halt negotiations until a comprehensive assessment, guided by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), is completed. The document emphasizes that trade liberalization can intensify negative impacts if countries lack robust forest protection frameworks, and suggests that developed nations provide technical and financial assistance to developing ones to establish sustainable management systems.
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Document type: Statement
CETA Threatens EU Member States
This briefing by the Center for International Environmental Law argues that the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) limits the regulatory authority of EU Member States by imposing strict standards on domestic licensing processes, potentially allowing Canadian companies to challenge environmental and social protections through international arbitration.
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Document type: Briefing
CETA Threatens EU Member States: Mining
This briefing by the Center for International Environmental Law examines how the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) could allow Canadian mining companies to challenge Greek mining regulations. It argues that CETA's 'domestic regulatory disciplines'—which require licensing processes to be objective, transparent, and simple—conflict with the discretionary and evolving nature of Greek environmental and technical mining laws.
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Document type: Briefing
CETA Threatens EU Member States: Pesticides
This report by the Center for International Environmental Law argues that the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the EU and Canada undermines the ability of EU Member States to regulate pesticides. It contends that CETA's focus on regulatory harmonization, its requirement for scientific evidence over the precautionary principle, and its dispute resolution mechanisms create financial and procedural barriers that discourage Member States from enacting protective health and environmental measures.
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Document type: Report
CETA Threatens EU Member States: Pollution Controls
This report by the Center for International Environmental Law examines how the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) may undermine the ability of EU Member States to regulate industrial pollution, specifically within the chemical manufacturing sector, by allowing companies to challenge subjective or evolving licensing requirements before international arbitration tribunals.
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Document type: Report
Tackling the trade in illegal timber: a comparative study of legal frameworks
This research paper by the Center for International Environmental Law provides a comparative analysis of timber legality frameworks in five major importing markets: the United States, the European Union, Australia, Japan, and the Republic of Korea. It examines the scope, actor obligations, definitions of illegal timber, and enforcement mechanisms of these laws to identify effective legislative options for combating illegal logging and deforestation.
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Document type: Research paper
THE CHEMICALS STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABILITY: How Can the European Union Set an Example for the World?
This report by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) analyzes the European Commission's October 2020 "Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability." The document evaluates the Strategy's potential to create a "toxic-free environment" and provides recommendations for the EU to lead global chemicals management by strengthening international standards, eliminating double standards in exports, and implementing rigorous internal regulations on hazardous substances.
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Document type: Report
Declaração sobre Resíduos Contendo Nanomateriais
The 'Declaração sobre Resíduos Contendo Nanomateriais' is a statement signed by various civil society organizations and research institutes calling for a precautionary approach to the management of waste containing manufactured nanomaterials (MNMs). The document highlights the risks associated with the increasing use of MNMs in consumer, industrial, and medical products, emphasizing the need for producer responsibility, restricted transboundary movement of such waste, and the creation of public registries to monitor waste flows, particularly within the European Union.
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Document type: Statement
Declaración sobre residuos que contienen nanomateriales
This statement, signed by various civil society organizations, calls for a precautionary approach to managing waste containing manufactured nanomaterials (NM) to prevent adverse effects on human health and the environment.
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Document type: Statement
doha_sdi12-e7ac09058dbef973.pdf
This research paper by Maria Julia Oliva of the Center for International Environmental Law examines the 'Development Agenda' of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Doha Work Programme. The author evaluates whether the subsequent July framework maintains the original commitment to prioritize the needs of developing countries, specifically analyzing sectors such as agriculture, non-agricultural market access (NAMA), services, and the intersection of trade and environment.
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Document type: Research paper
ec_biotech_05may05-b5d04eb6c15eba31.pdf
This briefing analyzes the legal arguments and international law frameworks relevant to the WTO dispute 'EC – Biotech', specifically focusing on the definition of risk assessments (RA) under the SPS Agreement and the potential influence of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.
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Document type: Briefing
epa_synthesis_4june07-4c90ab0d2b447875.pdf
This policy brief critiques the European Union's (EU) proposed intellectual property (IP) provisions within Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) for African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries. The author argues that the proposals impose restrictive standards on copyright, plant variety protection, and enforcement that exceed TRIPS Agreement requirements and threaten the development and public interest of ACP nations.
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Document type: Policy brief
eptsd_framework_sep1999-e24bbfee23cff5b3.pdf
This research paper, prepared by Matthew Stilwell for the Center for International Environmental Law and published by the World Wide Fund for Nature in October 1999, proposes the use of the Expert Panel on Trade and Sustainable Development (EPTSD) Framework to reconcile conflicts between international trade, environment, and development policies. Using the WTO Shrimp-Turtle dispute and the potential US-EU GMO labelling conflict as case studies, the paper argues that formal WTO dispute settlement is often too adversarial to resolve underlying environmental and development issues. It advocates for a staged process of dispute prevention—moving from international cooperation and consultation to third-party assisted mediation before resorting to binding arbitration—to promote policy coherence and sustainable development.
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Document type: Research paper