Extreme weather events
Biosafety and trade
International environmental agenda
Looking to the future
While armed conflict, anti-war demonstrations
and the bombing of the United Nations building in Iraq provided some of
the lasting images of 2003, a number of environmental milestones also
made their mark. At the global level, climate change, international environmental
governance and the debate on genetically modified organisms continued
to dominate much of the environmental discourse
The Cartagena
Protocol on Biosafety came into force on 11 September – exactly
a year after the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) adopted
the Plan of Implementation. This was a toast to the success of international
cooperation in a world too often badly affected by discord. Multilateral
negotiations and meetings in 2003 strengthened the framework for international
environmental governance at global and regional levels.
There were achievements, but there were also challenges, many of which
were similar across different regions of the world. Some of the common
issues at the regional level included; extreme weather events, including
drought and floods; water resources management; protected area and biodiversity
management; and environmental impacts of armed conflict. The environmental
issues and challenges highlighted in the following global and regional
sections are only a significant representative sample of many faced
in 2003 at different spatial levels. They are not mutually exclusive,
but key strands in the complex web of life. Setbacks and controversy
joined progress as regular items on the agenda of international cooperation.
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