Trade : Strong support for India's initiative on improving DR disciplines (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
A large majority of developing and least-developed countries, including China, on 5 December welcomed India's initiative to "rejuvenate" and "re-energize" negotiations at the World Trad e Organization for a multilateral outcome towards improving the disciplines o n domestic regulation (DR). The Indian initiative aims to enhance market acce ss for the movement of short-term services providers under Mode 4 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), trade envoys told SUNS.

Climate : Pressure intensifies to complete Paris Agreement implementation ru les (PRIV)
(Meena Raman, Katowice)
Negotiations under the UNFCCC's 24th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP24) in Katowice, Poland, have intensified on Dec. 5, the fourth day of the climate talks, as delegates ar e under pressure to complete work on the Paris Agreement Work Programme (PAWP) for the implementation of the Agreement by Saturday, 8 Dec, to enable ministers to make the final decisions needed next week.

UN : No release of "gene drives" without precautionary conditions (PRIV)
(Lim Li Ching and Lim Li Lin, Sharm el-Sheikh)
Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have laid down strict and precautionary conditions for any introduction of organisms containing engin eered gene drives into the environment.

UN : Rapid synthetic biology developments necessitate "horizon scanning" (PRIV)
(Lim Li Ching and Lim Li Lin, Sharm el-Sheikh)
The rapid and fast-paced developments in the field of synthetic biology and their potenti al adverse effects need to be anticipated, monitored and assessed.