Trade: Current WTO reform proposals must be rejected, says Minister Davies (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The current set of reform proposals for "modernizing" the World Trade Organization must be rejected by developing countries, South Africa's trade minister Rob Davies told SUNS on Friday. Th ese proposals would "make an unbalanced multilateral trading system even worse" by curtailing the "policy space" for industrial and economic development, Davi es said.

Climate: COP 24 President outlines mode of work for final week of talks (PRIV)
(Prerna Bomzan and Meena Raman, Katowice)
At the end of the first week of the climate talks on 8 Dec, at the ongoing 24th session of the Conf erence of Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 24), Michal Kurtyka, the Secretary of State f or the Ministry of Environment of Poland, leading the COP 24 Presidency, said that "a significant amount of work remains to be done to secure a balanced outco me" on the Paris Agreement Work Programme (PAWP) and outlined the steps to reac h the final outcome, expected to be adopted on Dec. 14.

UN: Biosafety Protocol agrees important work on risk assessment of GMOs (PRIV)
(Lim Li Ching and Lim Li Lin, Sharm el-Sheikh)
Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety have adopted a decision that puts its impor tant risk assessment work firmly back on track, after previous setbacks.

United Nations: A UN conference undermined by 11th hour withdrawals (PRIV)
(IPS, New York)
When the long-awaited UN conference focusing on the rights and safety of migrants and refugees takes off in Mor occo, it will be a rare, if not an unprecedented meeting, for one reason: the withdr awal of at least seven member states almost at the 59th minute of the eleventh hour .