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IN THE CORRIDORS

NGOs have been busy roaming the corridors and meeting rooms exchanging views on the Chair's draft decisions and lobbying delegates. On the financial resources and mechanisms draft, some NGOs believe that: more emphasis should be placed on the need for policy reforms, economic instruments and military spending reductions to generate additional resources for ODA; debt relief should not be linked to IMF- sponsored structural adjustment programmes; international financial institutions should realign their activities to support sustainable development; and the CSD should study the feasibility of economic instruments and develop consensus around the coordinated implementation of specific proposals.

On the draft decision on production and consumption patterns, some NGOs feel that the language is too general and does not place sufficient emphasis on the consumption side of the equation. Some NGOs have also called for greater emphasis on the need for national-level action in the North.

On the biotechnology draft decision, some NGOs are calling for: more information and proposals on the ecological, safety, health and socio-economic effects of genetic engineering; monitoring and assessing the viability of biotechnology experiments and projects; enhancement of the role of NGOs in the implementation of Chapter 16; 'best practice' case studies; and discussions in the Biodiversity COP on intellectual property rights that balance the need to reward innovation, while recognizing farmers' rights and the knowledge of indigenous peoples and farming communities.