Benefit barred, access denied
In the first fortnight of March, the Convention of Biological Diversity (cbd) shall be put to test. The eighth Conference of Parties (cop-8) will be held in Brazil from March 20-31 bringing together 188 countries, just a few months after the World Trade Organisation (wto) ministerial in Hong Kong. A part of cbd's agenda will have to be worked out under the shadow of what transpired at the wto, or actually, what did not.
cbd has always had a troubled relationship with the wto, because their characters are fundamentally different. Whereas wto is an international body governing trade, which sees issues such as environmental and other arguments against unrestricted trade as