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The global trend towards increased demand for organic food, greener environments, and the integration of biological control agents into pest management strategies has greatly enhanced the need for biopesticides. Biopesticides are made from micro-organisms or other natural substances and are, hence, generally environmentally friendly. However, despite their great potential—and in part due to regulatory challenges—relatively few biopesticides have been registered and commercialised in Nigeria compared to other African countries, such as South Africa and Kenya. Biological active agents are so diverse that applying the same safety standards to all of them is almost impossible. A comparative review of risk assessment processes of Nigeria's biopesticide regulations with other developing African countries (South Africa and Kenya) and developed regions (the European Union and the United States of America) was conducted. Prolonged field testing, lack of bridged risk assessments, and technical checklists were identified as key factors hampering the research and development of biopesticides in Nigeria. Suitable amendments to the existing regulations guiding biopesticide formulation and utilisation in Nigeria are recommended. Risk assessment matrices for microbial and biochemical pesticides and a scientific/technical checklist have also been developed. It is apparent that harmonisation and data exchange among countries in the region could enhance the advancement of scientific and technical knowledge for sustainable regulation of, and cross-border trade in, biopesticides.

After decades of biomedical research on ayahuasca's molecular compounds and their physiological effects, recent clinical trials show evidence of therapeutic potential for depression. However, indigenous peoples have been using ayahuasca therapeutically for a very long time, and thus we question the epistemic authority attributed to scientific studies, proposing that epistemic injustices were committed with practical, cultural, social, and legal consequences. We question epistemic authority based on the double-blind design, the molecularization discourse, and contextual issues about safety. We propose a new approach to foster epistemically fair research, outlining how to enforce indigenous rights, considering the Brazilian, Peruvian, and Colombian cases. Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect, and develop their biocultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and cultural expressions, including traditional medicine practices. New regulations about ayahuasca must respect the free, prior, and informed consent of indigenous peoples according to the International Labor Organization Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention no. 169. The declaration of the ayahuasca complex as a national cultural heritage may prevent patenting from third parties, fostering the development of traditional medicine. When involving isolated compounds derived from traditional knowledge, benefit-sharing agreements are mandatory according to the United Nations' Convention on Biological Diversity. Considering the extremely high demand to treat millions of depressed patients, the medicalization of ayahuasca without adequate regulation respectful of indigenous rights can be detrimental to indigenous peoples and their management of local environments, potentially harming the sustainability of the plants and of the Amazon itself, which is approaching its dieback tipping point.

Dieser wissenschaftliche Essay definiert " das Lokale " als Ensemble lokaler Mikrokosmen, die über alleinstellende ressourcen verfügen und daher spezifische, für die Nachhaltigkeit der Bewirtschaftung solcher Ressourcen generell postulierte Regulierungsfunktionen erfüllen müssen. Diese bestehen u.a. aus der Sicherstellung der Eigenlegitimation, aus Grenzkontrollen oder aus einem Monitoring und – hauptsächlich – aus der Regulierung von Nutzungs- und Mitwirkungsrechte sowie Entscheidungsprozessen. Eine wesentliche Regulierungsfunktion besteht aber auch in der Einfügung der lokalen regulativen Arrangements in übergeordnete öffentliche Politiken und staatliche Grundprinzipen, welche Einschränkungen der prinzipiell aus Ressourcensicht notwendigen Handlungsautonomie solcher Mikrokosmen erfordert. Das daraus resultierende Dilemma wird anhand von Beispielen ökologischer, wirtschaftlicher und sozialer Mikrokosmen aufgezeigt und im Lichte des Postulats der " good governance " diskutiert. This scientific essay defines 'the local' as a set of local microcosms which by our definition dispose of outstanding resources. As such, they must be able to perform specific regulatory functions that are considered as necessary for the sustainable management of these resources. These functions include, amongst others, the ensuring of self-legitimation, border controls, monitoring and, most importantly, the regulation of use rights, participation modes and decision making. An essential regulatory function consists of integrating the local regulatory arrangements into superordinate public policies and basic state principles. This tends to restrain the actors' autonomy which is necessary from the point of view of a good resource regulation. The contribution shows the resulting dilemmas by means of examples stemming from ecological, economic and social microcosms and discusses them from the angle of the 'good governance' postulate.

This article addresses a critical gap in the current AI regulatory discourse by focusing on the environmental sustainability of AI and technology more broadly, a topic often overlooked both in environmental law and in technology regulation, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or the EU AI Act. Recognizing AI's significant impact on climate change and its substantial water consumption, especially in large generative models like ChatGPT, GPT-4, or Gemini, the article aims to integrate sustainability considerations into technology regulation, in three steps. First, while current EU environmental law does not directly address these issues, there is potential to reinterpret existing legislation, such as the GDPR, to support sustainability goals. Counterintuitively, the article argues that this also implies the need to balance individual rights, such as the right to erasure, with collective environmental interests. Second, based on an analysis of current law, and the proposed EU AI Act, the article suggests a suite of policy measures to align AI and technology regulation with environmental sustainability. They extend beyond mere transparency mechanisms, such as disclosing greenhouse gas footprints, to include a mix of strategies like co-regulation, sustainability by design, restrictions on training data, and consumption caps, potentially integrating AI and technology more broadly into the EU emissions trading regime. Third, this regulatory toolkit could serve as a blueprint for other technologies with high environmental impacts, such as blockchain and metaverse applications. The aim is to establish a comprehensive framework that addresses the dual fundamental societal transformations of digitization and climate change mitigation.
AI regulation, environmental sustainability, GDPR, EU AI Act, sustainability goals

We are living in a world of vast information. The means of the Internet allow access to diverse sources of information, with social media and Internet of Things technologies significantly expanding the informational ecosystem. With the use of social media it is easy for 'like-minded' people to group up and initiate movements. One way to articulate such movements is via political consumerism. Users group together and boycot or buycot (boost purchases) for certain products with a concrete collective goal in mind. If however the collective goal is vague and abstract, as in the case of sustainability, this bottom-up strategy may loose its popularity and attraction. In this paper we introduce a new concept of how individual consumers can follow their own understanding of sustainability, while at the same time benefiting from collective and participatory actions. We discuss how the means of ICT can be used to develop political consumerism further to transform individual policies into collective statements.

Abstract
Regulators are confronted with the fact that with the rapid pace of change and innovation on the Internet, regulatory initiatives are often rendered irrelevant almost as soon as they are proposed. How can regulators craft a durable approach that can remain relevant in this fast-changing environment? The authors propose a framework of platforms that Internet Service Providers may deploy, and discuss the regulatory implications for each type of platform. They demonstrate the utility of their approach by applying their model to the current policy problems raised by specialized services, minimum quality regulations, and structural separation.

Abstract
Regulators are confronted with the fact that with the rapid pace of change and innovation on the Internet, regulatory initiatives are often rendered irrelevant almost as soon as they are proposed. How can regulators craft a durable approach that can remain relevant in this fast-changing environment? The authors propose a framework of platforms that Internet Service Providers may deploy, and discuss the regulatory implications for each type of platform. They demonstrate the utility of their approach by applying their model to the current policy problems raised by specialized services, minimum quality regulations, and structural separation.

Chapter 1: Introduction -- Chapter 2: Framework for the Analysis of Transnational Private Regulations -- Chapter 3: Case Study of TPRs for Economic Issues in Urban Development -- Chapter 4: Case Study of TPRs for Environmental Issues in Urban Development -- Chapter 5: Case Study of TPRs for Social Issues in Urban Development -- Chapter 6: Conclusion -- Appendix: Effectiveness and Outcome: Quantitative Analysis of the Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI) -- Figures and Tables -- Bibliography of Key Literature.