Events - Monday, 24 September 2012

The Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) has organized this conference on the theme "Harnessing Research for Sustainable Development of the Lake Victoria Basin," to synthesize the state-of-knowledge in the basin. The conference will discuss the following sub-topics: integrated water resources management and development; biodiversity, wildlife management and tourism; public health, water and sanitation; policy and stakeholder participation; and a special focus on the Mara River ecosystem.  

dates: 24-25 September 2012   location: Nairobi, Kenya  

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Public Forum 2012 will focus on the question: “Is multilateralism in crisis?” and will provide an opportunity for civil society participants to analyze the state of multilateralism and assess whether it is in crisis, considering both the Doha Round deadlock and WTO activities that work well. The Forum will address the following: formulating new approaches to multilateral trade opening in areas such as trade facilitation; addressing 21st-century issues and identifying areas in need of new regulations; and looking at the role of non-state actors in strengthening the multilateral trading system.  

dates: 24-26 September 2012   location: Geneva, Switzerland  

The agenda for the First Meeting of the Signatories (MoS1) to the UNEP/CMS Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Sharks includes, inter alia: reports from the first, second and third sharks negotiation meetings; reports from signatories; consideration of a draft conservation plan; and administrative and budgetary matters. As of 18 June 2012, the following countries had signed the MOU: Congo, Costa Rica, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Palau, Philippines, Senegal, Togo, US, Nauru, Tuvalu, Australia, Chile, South Africa, Belgium, Denmark, EU, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Monaco, and UK.  

dates: 24-27 September 2012   location: Bonn, Germany  

This symposium is sponsored by the Scientific Committee on Oceanographic Research (SCOR), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP). The symposium aims to attract over 300 of the world's leading scientists to discuss the impacts of ocean acidification on marine organisms, ecosystems, and biogeochemical cycles. It will also cover socioeconomic consequences of ocean acidification, including policy and management implications.  

dates: 24-27 September 2012   location: United States of America   additional: Monterey  

The 21st session of the FAO Committee on Forestry (COFO) and the Third World Forestry Week (WFW) will convene at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, in October 2012. The main theme of COFO21/WFW will be "Forests: a green pathway for human development".  

dates: 24-28 September 2012   venue: FAO headquarters   location: Rome, Italy