United Nations University 19 Feb 2004 To decide whether a new product seeking patent protection is novel or based upon traditional knowledge, officials require free access to indigenous secrets. Several countries have inventoried traditional knowledge in publicly-accessible databases for this purpose as a way to prevent its commercial theft. In many indigenous cultures, however, traditional […]
10 Feb 04 United Nations University A new breed of fund managers looking to pressure businesses to improve social, environmental and ethical performance, a phenomenon started in 1999, now wield more than $640 billion in clout in the UK alone – more than 12% of all managed investments in that nation, according to experts at […]
01 Feb 04 United Nations University Work should be stepped up on international agreements to oversee prospecting efforts in Antarctica by research institutions, universities and pharmaceutical companies to discover and stake ownership to promising organisms and compounds with genetic properties that make survival possible in extremely cold, arid and salty conditions, says a new UN […]
30 Nov 03 United Nations University In an effort to help raise the quality of water management expertise worldwide, the United Nations University has authorized for the first time in its 26-year history a diploma to be granted to global graduates of a unique new online training program called the “UN Water Virtual Learning Center.” […]
Joint Centre for Bioethics, University of Toronto 03 Nov 03 New research designed to help consumers create customized diets based on their genetic make up will create ethical and legal challenges with serious implications for the scientific and medical communities, warns a new consultation paper by a panel of international experts. Full release text: www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-11/coml-egn103003.php Example […]
23 Oct 03 Census of Marine Life An estimated 5,000 previously unknown ocean fish species and hundreds of thousands of other marine life forms are yet to be discovered, according to scientists engaged in a massive global scientific collaboration to identify and catalog life in the oceans. www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-10/coml-hmf102203.php Example coverage: The Associated Press, USA “Plenty […]
Joint Center for Bioethics, University of Toronto Students at more than 5,000 Canadian high schools this year will receive tools to take part in an unprecedented nationwide role-playing exercise designed to foster greater social awareness and sensitivity to ethical issues in science. Using materials prepared by the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics (JCB) […]
21 Aug 2003 Census of Marine Life International Experts Meet to Expand Study of Seamounts and Submarine Canyons As These Nurseries for New Species Become Subject to Commercial Harvest Amid growing concern over the commercial harvesting of species found in mountainous regions below the ocean surface, more than 30 of the world’s foremost experts are […]
United Nations University, Institute for Water, Environment and Health New Assistant Director Brings Extensive Experience in Move to UNU-INWEH Headquarters; Will organize UN Global Conference on Arsenic Contamination of Drinking Water in 2004 HAMILTON – 27 June, 2003 – The Canadian government has announced a $3 million extension of core funding through 2006 for UNU-INWEH, the […]
United Nations University 20 June 2003 The institution of asylum is “under grave threat” as nations erect ever-higher walls during the war on terrorism, leading many asylum seekers to engage human smugglers as their only means of potentially reaching sanctuary, according to a new analysis from the United Nations University. Published by UNU Press and […]
United Nations University, Tokyo 27 April 2003 New book defines essential building blocks for societies disrupted by conflict Judges should be recruited from the international community until a country disrupted by war can repair its justice system, say experts in a new book on post-war societies published by the United Nations University. Drawing lessons from […]
United Nations University / UNESCO 5 March, 2003 First UN system-wide evaluation of global water resources Faced with “inertia at the leadership level”, the global water crisis will reach unprecedented levels in the years ahead with “growing per capita scarcity of water in many parts of the developing world”, according to a United Nations report […]
Joint Center for Bioethics, University of Toronto Responding to important challenges raised by Toronto’s handling of the SARS crisis, experts from the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics (JCB), a leading medical ethics think tank, have designed an ethical framework to guide policy makers and public health authorities through future infectious disease outbreaks. The […]
Joint Center for Bioethics, University of Toronto Amid mounting pressure for a massive injection of funds into Medicare, one of Canada’s leading medical policy think tanks says money alone will not cure what ails the country’s public health care system. Analysis by the Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto shows health authorities […]
Joint Center for Bioethics, University of Toronto First list of priority technologies to avoid looming ‘genomics divide’ between rich and poor countries Millions of people in developing countries die each year from diseases that could be prevented or treated cheaply and easily in future through the development and use of a handful of […]
Joint Centre for Bioethics, Toronto 12 Sept 2002 Intensive care unit physicians need to be comfortable prescribing drugs in whatever dose is needed to relieve a dying patient’s pain and suffering, even if this hastens the patient’s death, according to proposed new guidelines released today by researchers at an international medical ethics think-tank. The guidelines […]
United Nations University September 2002 A third series of television public service announcements about UN University’s work to promote sustainable development is being broadcast to television viewers worldwide, thanks to CNN. The 60-, 30- and 15-second commercials, released to coincide with the start of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, will be broadcast on CNN International six […]
5 June, 2002 United Nations Washington / Rome / Paris – The UN and leading international scientific agencies will launch on June 5 (World Environment Day) a pioneering Internet-based atlas providing users with continuously updated strategic data on the state of the world’s oceans, maps, development trends and threats to human health from the deteriorating […]
United Nations University 27 January, 2002 The degradation of mountain ecosystems — home to 600 million people and the source of water for more than half the world’s population — threatens to seriously worsen global environmental problems including floods, landslides and famine, according to an analysis by United Nations University. Climate change, pollution, armed conflict, […]
United Nations University, Tokyo The degradation of mountain ecosystems – home to 600 million people and the source of water for more than half the world’s population – threatens to seriously worsen global environmental problems including floods, landslides and famine, according to an analysis by United Nations University. Climate change, pollution, armed conflict, population growth, […]
Environment Canada, Toronto 28 September, 2001 With lower pollution levels in the air, Lakes start to “out-gas” PCBs, pesticides Significant quantities of chemicals, including PCBs and pesticides, are being released from the Great Lakes into the atmosphere, according to data compiled by a long-term Canada-U.S. research project. Researchers say pollution controls have caused atmospheric concentrations […]
United Nations University 27 Oct 2000 Thousands of human casualties and tens of billions of dollars in economic damage will continue to befall the world’s developing countries every two to seven years until an investment is made to improve forecasting and preparedness against El Nino, a new international study warns. The study, a joint project […]