UNEP Sponsors International Environmental Law Course

 In August, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the University of Joensuu, Finland, with the support of the Government of Finland, held a two-week course on international environmental law-making and diplomacy. For the 2005 course, 47 participants were chosen, out of 210 applications received from 81 countries. The course sought to transfer past experiences in the field of environmental law to the future negotiators of environmental agreements. In addition, the course aimed to provide a forum to foster North-South co-operation and to take stock of recent developments in the negotiation s and implementation of multilateral agreements and diplomatic practices in the area.

INECE EPC member Donald Kaniaru delivered several lectures and presented the participants with copies of Making Law Work: Environmental Compliance and Sustainable Development (Cameron May, 2005), edited by Mr. Kaniaru, Durwood Zaelke, and Eva Kružíková.

The programme covered global and regional environmental policy, law-making, and diplomacy, with lectures from experienced hands-on diplomats, government officials, and members of academia. The Third Annual course will be held in 2006 at University of KwaZulu-Natal, in South Africa. An application form and a draft programme will be announced on the course website in February 2006. The application deadline will be spring 2006. Candidates from developing countries and from countries in transition can apply for a fellowship. Those from developed countries who wish to participate, at their own expense, can also apply.

See http://www.joensuu.fi/unep/envlaw/ for more information.

Rich nations are scouring the globe for greenhouse gas credits to help them meet climate change targets, but red tape in one of the Kyoto Protocol's main markets is hampering their search. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), potentially a big source of cheap carbon dioxide reduction credits, is struggling to deliver as hundreds of climate-friendly projects in India, China, and other developing countries wait in a queue for official approval to go ahead.

Climate Analysis Indicator Tool Revised

The World Resources Institute (WRI) released the latest version of its Climate Analysis Indicators Tool (CAIT). CAIT is an interactive, web-based information and analysis tool on global climate change. CAIT offers the most comprehensive and comparable database on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other indicators relevant to climate change policy. The new version includes updated data and a range of new features including :

• Mapping;
• Improved interface for Emissions Intensity Indicators;
• Improved interface for creating customized regions;
• Fuel-level detail on fossil fuel reserves;
• Updated data, including new emission projections; and
• CAIT-U.S. (beta), a state-by-state data and analysis tool for the United States .

With almost 4,000 users from more than 140 countries, CAIT is rapidly becoming a common GHG information platform used by governments, advocates, industry, academia, and the media.

More information about CAIT is available at http://cait.wri.org/.