Biodiversity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Biodiversity - Research Paper ExampleOn a more lofty plane of analysis, proponents of bioengineering, laud it as a triumph of human innovation, an example of creations superior knowledge over other organisms in the eco-system. Some even argue that sustainable agriculture is possible only with ergonomics and imaginative chemistry. (Schneiderman and Carpenter, 1990). Environmental advocates, on the other advance, warn of the hazards of biotechnology on biodiversity and other life-forms. For example, environmentalists assert that the corn that is keeping pests away is also killing the Monarch butterfly. gibe to Wilson (1992), the race is on to develop methods, to draw more income from the wildlands without killing them, and so to give the invisible hand of the free market a green thumb. the central debate that underpins the biotechnology discourse balancing the WTO principles on liberalization and the environmental concerns of biotechnology. To quote Herdegen (2010) Biotechnology on the international level, is covered by the said bipartite Environmental Agreements (MEAs), which build their judicial content upon a precautionary approach. On the other hand, WTO trade natural law is deemed to focus on the abolition of trade barriers and the combating of protectionism and unjustified discrimination. Therefore there is a potential for interlocking between trade law and MEAs, especially in the field of biotechnology. It is this conflict that has made the crafting of an international sanctioned framework for biotechnology so fraught with tensions, and the road to Cartagena so bumpy. The proposal for the international regulation of biotechnology was spawned by a 1986 incident, wherein the United States tested a genetically-modified rabies vaccine in Argentina, without having informed, much little obtained consent, from the Argentine government. This raised fears that with without an international legal framework for biotechnology, developed countries would use on togeny countries as laboratories, so putting citizens of the latter at great risk. (Gupta, 2000 24). There was a pre-existing Convention on biologic Diversity that could be used to serve as a framework for the creation of a design particularly and specifically addressing biotechnology concerns and issues. Article 8 of the CBD called on Parties to establish or maintain content to regulate, manage or control the risks associated with the use and inconvenience of living modified organisms resulting from biotechnology which are promising to have adverse environmental impacts that could affect the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, taking also into measure the risks to human health. On the basis of Article 8, the parties to the Convention decided to form a working conference to hammer out a protocol acceptable by all. Delegates from 170 nations locked heads in Cartagena to work with the contentious issues being raised and the various points of divergence between n ations and stakeholders. In a press release by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in 1999, Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the program, was quoted as saying we bespeak a widely accepted protocol that protects the environment, strengthens the capacity of developing countries to ensure biosafety, complements existing national regulations, and promotes normal confidence in biotechnology and all the benefits it can offer. This, however, proved to be easier said than done. Countries from Europe and from the developing world found themselves forming an