Natural Resources and Violent Conflict - WaterWiki.net

108 crossin, hayman, and taylorIn early 2001 the Environmental Management Group of the UnitedNations Environment Programme (UNEP) agreed to establish a subgroupdealing with the harmonization of information and reportingamong the commodity control regimes instituted by its numerous multilateralenvironmental agreements. 6 In particular, the Subgroup on theHarmonization of National Reporting was concerned with examiningways of realizing the full value of data gathered by overcoming problemsof limited access and a lack of comparability of information. Thebenefits of streamlining CTRs were suggested to include the following:• Provision of more accurate and detailed information needed todetermine the volume, severity, and nature of illegal trade• Reduced duplication of efforts between organizations and memberstates• Assistance to other parties to implement provisions by givingdetails on lessons learned, case studies, and experiences• Improved efficiency in the use of information technology andcommunications• Improved cooperation and analytical capacity• Increased ability to use and develop clearinghouse mechanismsto trace commodity flows.UNEP ran four national pilot projects to test different methods anddevelop guidelines for harmonized reporting. The results of the pilotscheme were presented at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg in 2002.At the time of writing, no follow-up harmonization initiatives have beenannounced for multilateral environmental agreements on biodiversity.Information overload is compounded by overlapping reportingrequirements under different, but related, international agreements.For example, there are parallels between CITES, the Convention onMigratory Species, the Convention on Wetlands, and the Conventionon Biodiversity. There are also evident similarities between provisionsunder the Basel Convention on Hazardous Wastes and the StockholmConvention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. Many countries—developed and developing—have expressed concerns over the burdenof gathering and reporting information. It is widely acknowledged thatimproving the cooperation between secretariats and setting commonstandards for gathering and reporting information are fundamental tothe effectiveness of commodity tracking systems. 7The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations,the UN Economic Commission for Europe, the European Union, andthe International Tropical Timber Federation have begun to streamlineinternational reporting procedures, submitting joint questionnaires tonational forest administrations in April-May 1999. The effort savedby eliminating duplicate reporting practices is to be put into gathering