Articles

Regulating against Conflicts of Interests - ALTER-EU's vision

The UN Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) biosafety negotiations have been the target ofbiotech industry lobbyists and pro-biotech governments from the outset. But some have taken a more subtle approach to their lobbying, hiding their agenda beneath a veneer of public interest. Scrape beneath the surface however and their links to the biotech industry become clear. One such organisation is the Public Research and Regulation Initiative (PRRI) which appeared on the scene after the first biosafety negotiations under the CBD. Apparently independent from industry,this group claims to

This report, compiled by ASEED Europe, Base Investigataciones Sociales,Corporate Europe Observatory, Grupo de Reflexión Rural and the Rain Forest Action Network, looks at the impacts of soy production in Latin America ahead of the third Round Table on Responsible Soy conference, and warns that rather than promoting more sustainable production, the Round Table is legitimising the existing environmentally and socially destructive practices within the soy industry.

Bonn, 19 May -- The biosafety negotiations in Bonn ended without a legally binding agreement on who could be held liable for compensation for damage caused by GM crops. Negotiators reached an "accord" which will be negotiated further over the next two years. This time it was Japan blocking progress, with the silent approval of New Zealand, Peru,and probably others. This does not look good for Japan who is host for the next CBD.

On 15 January 2008, six organisations and networks sent a letter of protest to Research Commissioner Janez Potočnik about the ‘Strategic Research Agenda’ and ‘Strategy Deployment Document’ composed by the European Biofuels Technology Platform.This platform, initiated by the European Commission itself, is heavily dominated by industry and has been given the opportunity to advise the EU about how public research money should be spent regarding agrofuel research. But not only that.

The Public Private Iinfrstructure Advisory Fund (PPIAF) has been instrumental in steering Paraguay towards water privatisation despite a decade of popular resistance against it. This case study looks at the results.

Private sector involvement in water supply has been a policy pushed in Malawi since 1998. In June 2000, the World Bank agreed a “Malawi: Privatization and utility reform project” which included the water sector as one utility to focus upon.This case study looks at the impacts.

The Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF), housed within the World Bank, was created in 1999 to fund “technical assistance on strategies and measures [governments] can use to tap the full potential of public-private partnerships in infrastructure”. It also disseminates information about “best practice” in public-private partnerships or PPPs. PPIAF works in a range of sectors including transport, telecommunications and water. This summary and briefing look at the role it plays in relation to water and sewage services (approximately 20 per cent of its work).

The Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF), funded by the tax payer, promtes privatisation as a way of extending access to clean water and sanitation across the developing world. This media briefing, jointly produced by CEO, Friends of the Earth International, FIVAS, TNI and the World Development Movement, looks at the impact it has had.