News

A side event at the UNFCCC-COP20 Lima Climate Change Conference in December heard how commercializing goods derived from native biodiversity ("BioTrade") can be complemented by climate change mitigation and adaptation measures to unleash private sector engagement.

Participants at the III BioTrade Congress recognised the value of partnerships and cooperation by all stakeholders involved in the sustainable use and sourcing of biodiversity-based products and services.

The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), enters into force, having secured the required number of ratifications by Parties to the CBD, ​on 12 October 2014.

Forty representatives from 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean attended a regional workshop on e-commerce legislation harmonization held in Guayaquil, Ecuador, from 16 to 19 September.

Legislators from eight French-speaking West African countries attended an UNCTAD-ECOWAS seminar in Dakar, Senegal from 11-14 February, to discuss how to harmonize legislation on electronic transactions, computer security and personal data protection.

Mobile money – the use of cell phones for money transfers, payments and more sophisticated financial activities such as credit, savings, and insurance – is increasingly popular in East Africa. While it offers the potential for increased financial inclusion, it could benefit from region-wide rules to coordinate and harmonize regulations, UNCTAD study says.