26 August 2014
Voicing grave concern over the reported access to and seizure of oilfields and pipelines in Syria and Iraq by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Jabhat Al-Nusra, the Security Council underscored that there should be no trade in oil with these terrorist groups. (more…)
Source: UN News Centre | Security Council concerned about illicit oil trade as revenue for terrorists in Iraq, Syria
Source: UN Security Council | SC/11495 | 7226th Meeting (AM) | Security Council Voices Grave Concern over Reported Seizure of Oilfields by Terrorist Groups Operating in Syria, Iraq | 28 July 2014
31 October 2013
On 22 October, representatives of six countries located in the Congo Bassin, with timber industry representatives and civil society adopted the “Brazzaville Declaration” in which they agreed to jointly combat illegal timber trade in the Congo Basin.
The six states that adopted the Declaration are the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon.
The Congo Basin, covering an area of 300 million hectares, harbours the world’s second largest rainforest after Amazonia. As a key resource for stabilizing the global climate, however, it is also a major supplier of illegal timber. The Brazzaville Declaration aims to implement measures that improve timber tracking, transparency and forest governance.
Source: UN News Centre | African countries consent to tackle illegal timber trade in Congo Basin – UN agency
31 October 2012
A consortium of 22 European non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) published a report on 30 October 2012, entitled: Trading Away Peace: How Europe helps sustain illegal Israeli settlements.
This report concludes that while the European Union (EU) consistently condemns Israel’s settlement policy, and defines Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories as being illegal under international law, EU policies help sustain Israeli settlements because of (heavy) trade with these settlements. The report recommends concrete measures that individual member states or the EU can take in order to make sure their policies do not (in)directly support settlements.
Source: The Guardian | EU urged to re-think trade deals with Israeli settlements in West Bank
Source: Der Spiegel | Activists Seek Ban on Trade with Israeli Settlers
Source: Report | Trading Away Peace: How Europe helps sustain illegal Israeli settlements
3 July 2012
On 2 July, talks began at the United Nations over a proposed treaty on global trade in conventional weapons, particularly small arms and ammunition, valued in 2010 at $411 billion. The treaty could ban weapons shipments to conflict areas, as well as areas where they would lead to serious human rights violations.
Source: The Independent | UN talks could finally rein in lawless trade in killing
Source: The Guardian | Why this arms trade treaty is essential