An innovative regional agreement is beginning to turn the tide for the 'ancient mariners' of the world's oceans. Marine turtles traverse the seas for thousands of kilometers, returning after decades to nest in the same area where they entered the world as tiny hatchlings. They are threatened by degradation of critical habitats on land, interaction with fishing gear at sea, and excessive harvesting of eggs and for meat. A new report, prepared for a forthcoming meeting in Bali of 27 signatories to a region-wide turtle conservation agreement, gives the most comprehensive picture to date of how well countries have been tackling these problems. Douglas Hykle, who coordinates the agreement's activities from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) office in Bangkok, said national reports clearly show signatory states are making efforts to monitor, manage and protect their marine turtle populations. "Participating countries have made progress in many areas, but there is still room for improvement. Many have yet to clearly describe their resource needs and to mobilise sufficient funding for domestic implementation; and only a few are carrying the burden of supporting international coordination efforts," he said. Examples of progress include Australia, which has multi-million dollar programmes in place to support the development of community-driven approaches to turtle conservation and to find solutions to the problem of ghost nets. Indonesia is carrying out advanced research to identify interactions between fisheries and turtles and to work with industry to mitigate impact. The Seychelles has devised innovative approaches to involve the private sector in practical conservation measures Official delegations from more than 30 countries are expected to attend the Bali conference.

Rich nations will come under pressure at climate talks in Africa this week to get specific about how quickly and by how much they intend to cut their carbon footprints, said the UN climate chief. The expert-level gathering in Accra, Ghana kicks off today, and will lay the technical groundwork for a major UN meeting in Poznan, Poland at the end of the year. "I expect rich countries to agree on the ranges by which they feel that greenhouse gas emissions should be reduced," Yvo de Boer told AFP. "Specific targets will probably come in Copenhagen," he said, referring to the December 2009 UN conference where the world's nations have pledged to validate a successor plan for tackling global warming after the Kyoto Protocol runs out in 2012. Negotiations since a breakthrough in Bali last year have been stymied by a rift between rich and developing nations. China and India have called on developed countries to lead the way in cutting CO2 emissions, while the United States and Japan say these industrialising giants must also agree to binding commitments. The European Union stands somewhere in between, having pledged to reduce carbon pollution by at least 20 percent before 2020, compared to 1990 levels. The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned that even deeper cuts worldwide may be needed to stave off potentially catastrophic impacts from global warming ranging from drought to extreme weather to rising sea levels. Time is running out to reach an accord, said de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the forum for worldwide talks on tackling climate change and its effects. Negotiators feel "if not an emergency, at least a sense of urgency," he said in a phone interview, noting that the UN has added four additional negotiating sessions to an already packed schedule next year. "The Accra meeting is very important in terms of determining what instruments rich countries can use in order to achieve their targets over the longer term," de Boer said. Separate working groups will address key components in any future climate change agreement: whether the Kyoto list of six greenhouse gases will be expanded and how they will be measured; the role of global industry-specific initiatives, favored by Tokyo and Washington; and how to integrate the impact of deforestation. Every year more than 30 million hectares (74 million acres) of forest -- which soak up 20 percent of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere -- are lost largely due to illegal logging and slash-and-burn agriculture. The meeting will also focus on technical and financial assistance for developing countries, both to help cut emissions and to cope with the consequences of climate change. "I hope that, in all these areas, countries will come to Accra with very specific proposals on the kind of language to be included in the Copenhagen agreement," de Boer said. De Boer criticised the G8 summit goal -- unveiled last month -- of halving global warming emissions by 2050 as too vague and too distant. "Are we talking about a binding target or an aspirational target? Who is going to be taking what share of that target? These things are not clear," he said. The baseline against which the goal is to be measured, he added, is also unclear: Europe uses 1990, the IPCC has recommended 2000, and the Japanese prime minister spoke after the summit of 2008. IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri called last month on Europe to "show the way." It it does not, he said, "I am afraid that all attempts to manage the problem of climate change will collapse."

Around 2000 civil society groups are slated to attend the upcoming annual United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) conference on non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which will focus this year on the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a senior UN official said today. Kiyotaka Akasaka, Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information, told a press briefing that the DPI-NGO conference will be held in Paris from 3 to 5 September, the first time the event is being staged outside New York since it was inaugurated 61 years ago. Mr. Akasaka added that he hoped the new venue would provide an opportunity to reach out to a new constituency of NGOs, particularly those in developing countries. The theme of this year's conference will be "Reaffirming Human Rights for all -the Universal Declaration at". Mr. Akasaka described its focus on human rights as timely and relevant. Key participants are expected to include former French health minister and human rights activist Simone Veil, and Ingrid Betancourt, who was recently released from six years in captivity in Colombia, and who will address the conference by video link from UN headquarters. The conference will take a different format from previous years, with expert panels and human rights defenders taking part in round-table discussions. The chair of the conference, Shamina de Gonzaga, told the briefing that while there was no pretence that the Universal Declaration has been fully implemented, conference participants were trying to recognize the work of NGOs, the UN and Member States in making it a reality. To prepare for the conference, DPI has launched a website in English and French, designed to provide useful information to NGOs which are participating in the conference.

The Cook Islands has become the latest Member of IMO following the deposit, on 18 July 2008, of an instrument of acceptance of the Convention on the International Maritime Organization, as amended, with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. With the accession of the Cook Islands, the number of IMO Member States stands at 168, with a further three Associate Members. Since the Cook Islands is not a Member State of the United Nations, its application to join IMO required the approval of two-thirds (112) of the current IMO membership. The Cook Islands applied to join IMO in 1999 and the 112th letter of acceptance was received by the IMO Secretariat on 15 July 2008.

On 23 July 2008, the WTO welcomed Cape Verde as its newest member. Cape Verde started its accession negotiations in 1999. "I am very pleased to welcome Cape Verde as a new member. This new membership will strengthen the multilateral trading system. Being part of the WTO will enable Cape Verde to continue its integration into the world economy," said Director-General Pascal Lamy. The terms of membership, which include the Working Party Report for Cape Verde's Accession, the Protocol of Accession, and the Schedules of Cape Verde's commitments on Market Access for Goods and Services, were adopted by the WTO at the General Council in December 2007. Cape Verde ratified its accession package on 23 June 2008 which was the final step in the accession process before it could officially join the WTO. Under WTO rules, a country becomes a member 30 days after national ratification. Cape Verde is an archipelago located in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Africa. It was a Portuguese colony until its independence in 1975. Since 1991, the country has pursued market-oriented economic policies, facilitating foreign investment, fostering the private sector through privatisations, developing tourism, light manufacturing industries and fisheries. Cape Verde has also developed its transport, communications and energy facilities. Its main trading partners are Portugal, Netherlands, Brazil, Spain, Italy, the US and France. The biggest importer to Cape Verde is Portugal (EUR 116.79 million in 2007). Cape Verde's exports to Portugal were worth EUR 4.41 million in 2007.