Issue No 26
October 2007

Contents

• Launch Meeting and Training Workshop for the Madagascar Wildlife Trade Policy Review Project, 30 August 2007, Antananarivo, Madagascar
  
  
• Ad hoc Technical Expert Group on Technology Transfer and Scientific and Technological Cooperation, 10-12 September 2007, Geneva, Switzerland
  
  
• UNEP-UNCTAD CBTF International Symposium on Environmental Requirements and Market Access: Turning Challenges into Opportunities, 3 October 2007, Geneva, Switzerland
  
  
• Dialogue on International Trade, Climate Change and Global Competitiveness, 4 October 2007, Geneva , Switzerland
  
  
• WTO Regional Workshop on Trade and Environment for Asian and Pacific Economies, 16-18 October 2007, New Delhi, India
  
  
• Workshop on the report of Viet Nam ’s Wildlife Trade Policy Review, 20 October 2007, Hanoi, Viet Nam
  
  
• First Review Meeting of Trade and Biodiversity Projects, 26-28 November 2007, Geneva, Switzerland
  
  
  

2. Economic Tools

• IPES and Avoided Deforestation at the BIOCON: IX - Annual Conference, 19-21 September 2007, Kings College, Cambridge, United Kingdom
  
  
• Global Conference on Environmental Taxation, 17-21 October 2007, Munich, Germany
  
  
• Review Meeting for the preparation of IPES publication,
  6-7 December 2007, Geneva, Switzerland
  
  
  
  

• UNEP-UNCTAD-ITC Workshop on Environmental and Economic Impacts of Restricting Organic Products to the EU, 17 September 2007, London, United Kingdom
  
  
• Meeting of the International Steering Committee of the Task Force on Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture (ITF), 26-30 November 2007, Bali, Indonesia
  
  

• Joint UNEP and UNECE Expert Meeting on Energy Subsidies,
  15-16 November 2007, Geneva, Switzerland
  
  
  

• Launching event of the UNEP-WWF Publication: Sustainability Criteria for Fisheries Subsidies - Options for the WTO and Beyond, 26 September 2007, Geneva, Switzerland
  
  
  

Madagascar launched their national project to review wildlife trade policies on 30 August 2007 in Antananarivo. This project is part of a joint initiative of the UNEP-UNCTAD Capacity Building Task Force on Trade, Environment and Development (CBTF), CITES Secretariat, and Geneva-based Graduate Institute of Development Studies to support national wildlife trade policy reviews. In addition to launching the project, Madagascar organized a training workshop on conducting wildlife trade policy reviews. The launch meeting and training workshop included more than 50 participants representing government agencies, provincial environmental offices, environmental NGOs, donors and the private sector.

Following introductory presentations on the project and its implementation, participants met in small groups to discuss positive and negative impacts of existing national wildlife trade policies and potential responses and solutions to these impacts.

More information: http://www.unep-unctad.org/cbtf/

Contact: asad.naqvi@unep.ch

More information: http://www.cbd.int/doc/meeting.aspx?mtg=EGTTSTC-02

Contact: Benjamin.simmons@unep.ch

UNEP-UNCTAD Capacity Building Task Force (CBTF) symposium on Environmental Requirements and Market Access: Turning Challenges into Opportunities took place at the Geneva International Convention Centre (CICG) on 3 October 2007, back-to-back with the WTO Public Forum (4 to 5 October 2007).

About 100 participants attended from various backgrounds and countries, including government representatives, business and industry actors, and representatives of international organizations, civil society and academia.

The main objective of the CBTF symposium was to discuss the market access challenges developing countries face in view of the growing number of environmental standards and requirements in key export markets. Based on a review of developing countries’ major concerns and constraints, the symposium aimed to identify concrete market access opportunities that are created by environmental standards and requirements, and how developing countries can effectively seize these new market openings. The symposium addressed two specific topics: (i) agricultural products with a focus on requirements for organic agriculture, and (ii) electrical and electronic goods with a focus on waste/recycling and energy efficiency requirements.

More information: http://www.unep-unctad.org/cbtf/openGeneva5.htm

Contact: hussein.abaza@unep.ch

This dialogue, convened jointly by UNEP, the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, and the World Bank, explored the relationship between climate change mitigation, competitiveness and trade policies. Many developed and developing countries have been reluctant to adopt aggressive policies or strict targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions because of concerns about how this will impact their global competitiveness. These concerns have prompted calls from within industry and by governments for the introduction of measures, including trade measures, to level the playing field.

In particular, participants reviewed initial empirical insights on the impact of climate measures, such as carbon taxes and energy efficiency measures, on international trade flows and global competitiveness. In addition, participants discussed initiatives being considered in major economies to address competitiveness concerns, and implications of these measures for trade policy and sustainable development.

More information: http://www.unep.ch/etb/events/2007TradeDialogueOct04.php

Contact: Benjamin.simmons@unep.ch

The CITES Scientific Authority of Viet Nam (Centre for Natural Resources and Environmental Studies) will be convening a workshop to discuss the results from Viet Nam's national wildlife trade policy review project on 20 October 2007 in Hanoi. The project is part of a UNEP, CITES Secretariat, and Geneva-based Graduate Institute of Development Studies joint initiative to support national wildlife trade policy reviews. The workshop will provide an opportunity for the project team to receive feedback on the project results from interested stakeholders.

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

Contact: Benjamin.simmons@unep.ch

From 26-28 November, representatives of the six African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Countries participating in UNEP’s initiative on Integrated Assessment of Trade-related Policies and Biodiversity in the Agricultural Sector will gather in Geneva for the first international review meeting to discuss the intermediate results of the country projects and exchange experiences on the selection of appropriate tools, management of the stakeholder process and data gathering and analysis. The country project teams will present first findings of their projects, including the potential impacts of the EU-ACP Economic Partnership Agreements in selected sectors (Jamaica and Mauritius: sugar sector, Uganda: flower sector) as well as the impacts of other trade-liberalization processes on a specific sector (Madagascar: aquaculture shrimp sector, Cameroon: cacao sector, Papua New Guinea: two major staple food crops). The meeting will be held back-to-back with the third international steering committee meeting which will provide an opportunity for the country teams to receive input and guidance from experts in the fields of trade, biodiversity and assessment.

 More information on this initiative: http://www.unep.ch/etb/areas/biodivAgriSector.php

 Contact: vera.weick@unep.ch

Avoided Deforestation is a key topic under DTIE-ETB’s work stream on International Payments for Ecosystem Services (IPES). On the 20 September 2007, a draft paper prepared by UNEP-ETB, IUCN and an independent consultant (with the support of the CBD Secretariat) was presented at the 9th Annual Conference of BioEcon at Kings College, Cambridge, UK. The paper: “Seeing REDD: Reducing Emissions and Conserving Biodiversity by Avoiding Deforestation”, explores potential cost-sharing arrangements between carbon investors and biodiversity conservation beneficiaries under REDD projects. The paper has been revised on the basis of the comments received at BioEcon 2007 and will be submitted for peer review to the Journal of Environmental Science and Policy this month.

The principal aim of the BIOECON interdisciplinary network is to investigate the economic and policy-driven forces responsible for decline of biodiversity, and accordingly, to develop and implement tools, i.e. incentive mechanisms, that could halt if not reverse the effects of these forces.

More information: http://www.unep.ch/etb/events/2007WGRI_AD9July.php

Contact: fulai.sheng@unep.ch; louise.gallagher@unep.ch

UNEP-DTIE is co-hosting the "World Conference on Environmental Taxation" to be held in Munich , from 18-20 October 2007. Other partners include "Green Budget Germany", the German Government (BMZ, BMU, GTZ, UBA), UNDP, OECD, EEA, some NGOs and private sector companies.

The Conference provides an interdisciplinary forum for the exchange of knowledge on the use of environmental taxes and other economic instruments. With the theme "Innovation, Technology and Employment - Impacts of Environmental Fiscal Reforms (EFR) and other Market-Based Instruments" it will focus on less well-publicized aspects of EFR, such as the stimulation of innovation, the development of new technologies and job creation.

The conference is expected to draw a large audience that will include academic scholars, government officials, representatives of IGOs and NGOs, tax and accounting professionals and executives from the private sector and experts.

Contact: anja.moltke@unep.ch

The IPES publication will contain a series of contributions from key experts from all over the world who are involved in the cutting edge development of this new policy instrument. Each contribution will address the different dimensions of the IPES development, from its potential for achieving biodiversity conservation targets and carbon reduction, to an evaluation of institutional mechanisms for its implementation. The publication aims to place IPES squarely at the forefront of environmental policy-making.

Currently, five experts have been engaged to contribute four pieces for inclusion in the IPES publication. A further two contracts (for three articles) are being processed at this time. First drafts of these contributions will be submitted between the end of October and mid-November for review by partners. Finalized versions of the contributions will be submitted end of December 2007.

It is proposed to hold a two day review meeting with the authors and UNEP-IUCN-CBD partners in the first week of December 2007 to discuss the publications’ progress.

 Contact: fulai.sheng@unep.ch; louise.gallagher@unep.ch

The workshop was organized as part of the Soil Association's consultation on banning imports of air freighted organic products.

Among others, by British Minister for Trade and Development Mr. Gareth Thomas, addressed the seminar and opposed the ban highlighting its potential negative impacts on the poverty reduction efforts in Africa. An organic farmer and exporter from Ghana, Mr. Ernest Abloh, in his presentation shared that rural economies in a number of African countries depend to varying levels on air freighted fresh produce exports. A ban on certification of organic products from these areas would have a damaging impact on these developing economies. He stated that the idea of restricting trade solely on the basis of ‘food miles’ can be inappropriate, over simplistic, and naive. UNEP in its intervention emphasized the need to consider the environmental benefits of the organic agriculture in terms of climate change, energy efficiency and biodiversity conservation.

UNEP, UNCTAD and ITC also issued a joint statement, which indicated the flawed nature of the proposed ban and expressed their concern about the impacts of such a measure on the livelihood of organic farming communities in the developing world. The statement also indicated that consideration of carbon footprint should be based on a 'farm-to-fork' approach which may put products from Africa in a better position rather than the piecemeal application which will have limited contribution to climate change.

More information on organic agriculture: http://www.unep-unctad.org/cbtf/

Contact: asad.naqvi@unep.ch

The International Steering Committee of the Task Force on Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture is an open-ended platform for dialogue between public and private institutions (intergovernmental, governmental and civil society) involved in trade and regulatory activities in the organic agriculture (OA) sector. The objective of ITF is to facilitate international trade and access of developing countries to international markets.

At this seventh annual meeting, the ITF will discuss various issues and options related to harmonization of OA standards. These include potential negative impacts of equivalency, tool for equivalency of organic standards/technical regulations, and harmonization of group certification. UNEP in its presentation will share its experience of harmonizing 5 different national standards in East African and developing East African Organic Product Standard (EAOPS). It also shared the lessons learned and key factors in successful adoption of the EAOPS by the East African Community as its official voluntary standards.

Contact: asad.naqvi@unep.ch

Subsidies on the supply and use of energy are often environmentally harmful and entail a number of perverse consequences. They do not only send false price signals encouraging overuse of energy resources, but also inhibit the development of substitutes that are more environmentally friendly. Furthermore, they distort international trade and are costly, thus diverting scarce financial resources from other social purposes.

Now with climate change and energy security being at the centre of the international agenda, there are opportunities for moving the work on energy subsidies further. As a first step, UNEP will host an expert meeting on energy subsidies jointly with UNECE in Geneva on 15-16 November 2007. The meeting’s objective is to provide a platform for like-minded institutions and individuals to take stock of past and ongoing work in this area, identify gaps in both analytical and process terms, and consider collective efforts to move the agenda forward.

 Contact: fulai.sheng@unep.ch

Inappropriate subsidies contribute to widespread overfishing and to the distortion of trade in fisheries products. Current negotiations in the World Trade Organization aim to address this problem through binding new subsidies rules. But some fisheries subsidies will undoubtedly continue to be used for years to come.

Jointly commissioned by UNEP and WWF, “Sustainability Criteria for Fisheries Subsidies – Options for the WTO and Beyond” provides an analysis of the fisheries conditions and management practices that could guide both WTO negotiators and domestic policymakers in designing criteria for the use of subsidies. By examining issues related to the health of fish stocks, the capacity of fishing fleets, and the adequacy of fisheries management regimes, the paper proposes a series of basic tests whose application may allow the risks of fisheries subsidies to be reduced.

The launching event provided the opportunity to present the paper’s main conclusions to more than 30 attendees, mainly WTO delegates, at a very timely moment of WTO negotiations. During the subsequent discussion, delegates commented on the paper and key issues such as the approach to artisanal fisheries and to migratory species as well as the connection to existing international obligations. Delegates welcomed the paper and asked for further exchange and discussion of the issue as well as specific technical aspects.

Paper to download in pdf format: http://www.unep.ch/etb/events/2007LaunchWWF_UNEPPubli.php

Contact: anja.moltke@unep.ch

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