Issue No 24
April 2007

Contents

1. Sustainable Trade

• UNEP/Geneva Environment Network Roundtable on International Environmental Governance, 17 January 2007, Geneva, Switzerland
  
  
• UNEP/World Trade Organization High-Level Roundtable on Globalization and Environment, 5 February 2007, Nairobi, Kenya
  
  
• International Workshop on Wildlife Trade Policy Reviews,
  27-28 February 2007, Geneva, Switzerland
  
  
• Country projects under UNEP’s Trade and Biodiversity Initiative launched in Cameroon, Papua New Guinea and Mauritius
  

• Joint Workshop on WTO Environmental Goods Negotiations and Technology Transfer, 14 March 2007, Geneva, Switzerland
  
  
  
• Launch Meeting and Training Workshop for the Viet Nam Wildlife Trade Policy Review Project, 29 March - 1 April 2007, Hanoi,
  Viet Nam
  
  
  

• Technical Workshop to review the first draft of "An Operational Manual on Integrated Policymaking for Sustainable Development", 14-15 May 2007, Geneva, Switzerland
  
  

3. Fisheries

• UNEP-WWF Symposium on "Disciplining Fisheries Subsidies: Incorporating Sustainability at the WTO and Beyond", 1-2 March 2007, Geneva, Switzerland
  
  

• UNEP/ McGill University assessment course

• New Open Educational Resources on Environmental Impact Assessment
  

5. Organic Agriculture

• East African Organic Conference, 28 May - 1 June 2007,
  Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
  

Jointly organized by UNEP/DTIE ETB and the Geneva Environment Network, the roundtable was convened to discuss two policy issues that would be addressed at the 24th Session of the UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum – namely, environmental governance and the relationship between globalization and the environment. The roundtable was well attended with over 140 participants from non-governmental organizations, the private sector, academia, and inter-governmental organizations. Discussion focused on some of the critical challenges and opportunities for environmental governance arising in an ever-globalizing world.

For more information:
http://www.environmenthouse.ch/docspublications/reportsRoundtables/pp%20report/Int.environ.govern.pdf

UNEP and the WTO jointly convened this high-level roundtable during the 24th Session of the UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GC/GMEF). The roundtable provided a forum for government delegates and civil society to discuss key challenges and opportunities arising from the complex linkages between the trade and environment regimes. The high-level panel included presentations from, among others, UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner and WTO Director-General, Pascal Lamy. Participants discussed opportunities and challenges in coordinating international governance to ensure that trade and environmental policies are mutually supportive.

For more information: http://www.unep.ch/etb/events/pdf/WTO-UNEPside-event5feb07.pdf

Contact: benjamin.simmons@unep.ch

The UNEP-UNCTAD CBTF, the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of Development Studies organized an international workshop focused on the implementation of a joint initiative to support national wildlife trade policy reviews. The workshop, which was attended by three representatives from national research institutes and government agencies from each of the countries participating in the initiative (Madagascar, Nicaragua, Uganda, and Viet Nam), focused on methodologies for conducting wildlife trade policy reviews, stakeholder participation, and challenges in project implementation. The workshop was organized as a training-of-trainers – participants in the workshop will be leading future national-level capacity building activities related to the initiative.

For more information: http://www.unep-unctad.org/cbtf/openCITES.htm

Contact: benjamin.simmons@unep.ch

Country projects under UNEP’s Trade and Biodiversity Initiative launched in Cameroon, Papua New Guinea and Mauritius

As part of UNEP’s Trade and Biodiversity Initiative, the first country project was launched in Yaoundé, Cameroon by the national project team in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and Nature Protection from 5-7 March 2007. The launch workshop marked the starting point for an integrated assessment of trade-related policies in the cocoa sector that will focus specifically on the impacts on biodiversity. Back-to-back with the launch workshop, the first meeting of the project’s National Steering Committee and a two-day capacity-building workshop for national stakeholders most directly involved in project activities were held. About 25-30 people attended the capacity-building workshop, including members of the NSC, producers from the different regions in Cameroon, members of government and civil society. There was strong interest in the project as it may help to better understand the important linkages between trade-development and environment.

The launchings of the projects in Papua New Guinea (17-19 April) and Mauritius (23-25 April) followed a similar sequence of activities combining the launching workshop with a capacity building workshop to ensure broad involvement of stakeholders and in depth training at the beginning of the project. The project in Mauritius will focus on an integrated assessment of trade-related policies in the sugar sector, looking specifically at the EU ACP Economic Partnership Agreement. In Papua New Guinea two staple crops - taro and sweet potato - have been chosen as focus of the assessment, the production of which is affected by agricultural trade policies.

The country projects in Madagascar, Uganda and Jamaica will be launched in May.

For more information about the initiative: http://www.unep.ch/etb/areas/biodivAgriSector.php

Contact: vera weick@unep.ch and benjamin.simmons@unep.ch

Joint Workshop on WTO Environmental Goods Negotiations and Technology Transfer,
14 March 2007, Geneva, Switzerland

UNEP, UNCTAD, the University of Geneva, and the International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement organized this workshop as part of a joint initiative to explore linkages between MEA implementation, technology transfer and trade liberalization. The workshop, which explored the opportunities and challenges presented by the WTO EGS negotiations for promoting the transfer of cleaner technologies and practices, was attended by approximately 35 participants from WTO delegations and civil society.

For more information: http://www.ruig-gian.org/research/projects/projectlg.php?ID=136

Launch Meeting and Training Workshop for the Viet Nam Wildlife Trade Policy Review Project,
29 March - 1 April 2007, Hanoi, Viet Nam

The UNEP-UNCTAD Capacity Building Task Force, the CITES Secretariat and the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of Development Studies have recently launched the Viet Nam capacity building workshop to prepare national research teams on the project implementation of the national wildlife trade policy. Presentations were made at the training workshop on wildlife trade policy review and assessment. UNEP also met government Ministries and project partners to debrief on trainings and plan next steps for national project implementation.

For more information about the initiative: http://www.unep-unctad.org/cbtf/openCITES.htm

Since September 2006 UNEP has been working with the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore to develop the manual. This work is based on UNEP’s country-level integrated policy assessment projects since 1997. The goal is to encourage and enable public policymakers to apply an environmentally, socially and economically integrated approach to policymaking as a norm. The workshop will provide a platform for experts to exchange views and provide input to the draft manual with a view to improving the manual and making it usable for policymakers and analysts.

Draft agenda of the meeting.

Contact: fulai.sheng@unep.ch

UNEP and WWF jointly held a Symposium on ‘Disciplining Fisheries Subsidies: Incorporating Sustainability at the WTO and Beyond’ in Geneva on 1-2 March. The objective of this symposium was to discuss how “sustainability” can be incorporated into appropriate and workable conditions on fisheries subsidies at the WTO and beyond. Participants included over 120 individuals from national governments, IGOs, NGOs, regional fisheries management organizations and academic institutions. More than thirty participants made formal presentations.

The symposium was presided over by former FAO COFI chairman, Mr. Will Martin, who noted the unique mix of participants with trade, fisheries and environment expertise. The main indicators that were considered to have a direct bearing on the likelihood that subsidides contribute to overcapacity or overfishing include: the status of the fish stocks, the capacity of the fishing fleets and the adequacy of management systems. While the technical issues are complex and further discussions remains necessary, the Symposium confirmed the high level of interest among diverse stakeholders in crafting WTO rules that make a real contribution to sustainable fisheries through appropriate limits
on fisheries subsidies.

A draft paper presented by the organizers: ‘Sustainability Criteria for Fisheries Subsidies: Options for the WTO and Beyond’, was received as a useful contribution to the debate. A revised version will be published in the coming months.

For a summary of the meeting and further information: http://www.unep.ch/etb/events/2007fish_symposium.php

Contact: anja.moltke@unep.ch

The McGill-UNEP Collaborating Centre at the McGill University in Canada has launched a Master’s degree programme on environmental assessment this year. UNEP resource people from different divisions worked together and delivered 18 hours of lectures on integrated assessment of trade-related policies, fisheries, economic instruments, integrated policymaking, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, post-conflict assessment, and the Global Environment Outlook from 16-23 March 2007. Divisions contributing to the lectures included DEPI, DEWA and DELC.

For more information: http://www.mcgill.ca/nrs/graduate/environment/

Contact: hussein.abaza@unep.ch

Since April 2007, the United Nations University (UNU) Online Learning is offering Environmental Impact Assessment Open Education Resources (EIA-OER) which build on the UNEP EIA Training Resource Manual. The EIA-OER aims to provide capacity building materials and open educational resources for higher educational and training institutions, primarily in developing countries, to be utilised in graduate/post-graduate programmes and continuous education for EIA professionals. The material was developed jointly with the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), the University of the South Pacific and UNEP.

They include three parts: (1) an EIA Course Module defining the needs and objectives and illustrating the processes involved in EIA; (2) an information resource (EIA Wiki) including case studies, legislation, guidelines, assessment techniques and sectors related resources; and (3) an Instruction Guide to assist partnering institutions in adapting the educational resources to their institutional requirements, learning styles and local course content requirements. The course module includes seventeen videos and animations and a large number of built-in assignments and activities that support class room teaching, online learning and self-study.

The new EIA Open Educational Resource is available online at http://eia.unu.edu

Contact: vera.weick@unep.ch

An East African Organic Conference, which will bring together key public, private, and NGO sector stakeholders from East Africa and beyond, is being jointly organized by UNEP-UNCTAD Capacity Building Task Force on Trade, Environment and Development (CBTF), the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), the Tanzanian Organic Agriculture Movement, the Export Promotion of Organic Products from Africa Programme, in cooperation with the Government of Tanzania, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Trade Centre (UNCTAD/WTO) on 28 May – 1 June 2007 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The aim of the conference is to mobilise support for organic agriculture in East Africa by sensitising decision makers, development cooperation partners, and the public about the potential of organic agriculture as a sustainable development and market access opportunity. The conference will also provide a platform for discussing the findings of the CBTF organic agricultural studies and country projects being implemented in the region and for jointly developing a future action plan. East African Organic Standards (EAOS) and an East African Organic Mark, developed by the East African Organic Team and supported by CBTF and IFOAM, will also be launched at the conference. Financial support for the conference is being provided by the European Union and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.

The Conference comprises of the following three main components:

The Workshop on Developing Local and Regional Organic Markets (28 May) will allow practitioners, policymakers and relevant stakeholders to share experiences and knowledge about local and regional organic marketing. Presentation of local organic market case studies will be followed by sessions on guaranteeing organic integrity including through participatory guarantee systems, and organizing supply chains for local markets.

The East African Organic Forum (29 May) is the main public event, when media and dignitaries are expected to be present. It aims to raise awareness of the potential of organic agriculture in Africa and share information on the latest developments in organic agriculture in the region and the world, including CBTF, IFOAM and EPOPA project activities. Market developments and food security will be included. The conference will also launch the East African Organic Product Standard (EAOPS), developed by the East African Organic Team, with the support of CBTF and IFOAM, which will be approved as an East African Standard at the Council meeting, hopefully before the Forum. Simultaneously the East African Organic Mark, promoting its use and market recognition will be launched. Permanent Secretaries of Agriculture from the five East African countries are being invited to address the conference in the High Level Segment in the morning. An exhibit of East African organic products begins at lunchtime.

The Workshop on Moving the Organic Agenda Ahead (30-31 May) is for a smaller group of selected participants to allow for more in-depth discussions and planning. It aims to makes progress in the organic agenda of the five East African countries and to seek commitment from stakeholders for future actions. Recommendations made by national teams under the integrated assessment country projects and international experts will provide a baseline for future planning. The workshop will discuss progress and plans of East African Governments and private sector, African and international institutions, and development cooperation partners. It aims at providing a clear vision of the way forward with identification of the roles of different stakeholders. Workshop participants are invited to a Field Trip to Organic Farms (1 June).

For more information: www.unep-unctad.org/cbtf

Contact: asad.naqvi@unep.ch

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