Issue No 27
1st Quarter 2008
Contents
- First International Review Meeting for the Trade and Biodiversity Projects, 26-28 November 2007, Geneva, Switzerland
- Post Bali : Dialogue on Trade, Climate Change and Development, 11 February 2008, Geneva, Switzerland
- Informal Expert Discussion on Trade, Climate Change and Development, 12 February 2008, Geneva, Switzerland
- International Workshop on Wildlife Trade Policy Review,
21-23 April 2008, Geneva, Switzerland
New publications:
The French version of the Environment and Trade Handbook, 2nd Edition is now available electronically and will be published shortly:
Guide de l'environnement et du commerce - Deuxième Edition
26-28 November 2007, Geneva, Switzerland
In response to the call by the CBD Conference of Parties to study the impact of trade liberalization on agricultural biodiversity, UNEP is currently supporting Jamaica, Cameroon, Mauritius, Madagascar, Uganda and Papua New Guinea to assess the economic, social and environmental impacts of trade-related policies in their respective agricultural sectors, with a particular focus on the challenges and opportunities agricultural trade liberalization presents for biodiversity. In Jamaica, Mauritius and Uganda, the focus of the assessments is on the EU-ACP Economic Partnership Agreements and the potential impact on particular agricultural sectors (sugar and horticulture). Cameroon, Madagascar and Papua New Guinea are looking at the impact of trade liberalization policies in the cacao, shrimp aquaculture and oil palm/coffee sector, respectively, and strategies to align export strategies with sustainability goals. From 26-28 November 2007, the country teams gathered in Geneva for the first international review meeting to present intermediate results and receive feedback from international biodiversity and trade assessment experts. The three day meeting allowed participants to: (i) exchange information and experience amongst country teams, (ii) discuss major challenges and opportunities encountered with respect to stakeholder participation, assessment methodology, and influencing decision-making, and (iii) identify and discuss important next steps for project implementation in 2008.
More information: http://www.unep.ch/etb/events/2007BiodivFirstReviewMtgNov.php.
Contact: vera.weick@unep.ch
11 February 2008, Geneva, Switzerland
During the recent UN climate change negotiations in Bali, the Indonesian Government hosted a meeting among Trade Ministers to discuss how international trade can support climate change objectives. The meeting represented the first time that Trade Ministers have met informally to discuss climate change issues. Over the course of these discussions, the Trade Ministers noted the importance of concerted multilateral efforts to address climate change and recognized the importance of aligning environment objectives with global trade objectives.
This upcoming dialogue aims to further these discussions by providing a platform for Governments and experts to examine the relationship between trade, climate change and development, and to identify emerging issues and policy implications.
More information: http://www.unep.ch/etb/events/2008TradeClimateChangeMtg11Feb.php
Contact: Benjamin.simmons@unep.ch , Michael.chang@unep.ch
12 February 2008, Geneva, Switzerland
The objective of this informal discussion among experts from international organizations and academia is to take stock of present work on the interface of trade, climate change and development, and identify priority areas for potential collaboration. This meeting will also provide an opportunity for participating experts to provide an update on their current activities and strategies related to trade and climate change.
More information: http://www.unep.ch/etb/events/2008TradeClimateChangeExpertMtg12Feb.php
Contact: Benjamin.simmons@unep.ch , Michael.chang@unep.ch
International Workshop on Wildlife Trade Policy Review,
21-23 April 2008, Geneva, Switzerland
International Workshop on Wildlife Trade Policy Reviews is being organized to bring together the country project teams to share their project reports, best practices and lessons learned from this process. The participant countries are Madagascar, Uganda, Nicaragua and Vietnam. The project aims at strengthening national capacities of the selected countries to assess wildlife trade policies and to develop policy recommendations for integrating environmental, social and economic considerations into these policies. The country teams will now come together to share their findings and propose policy packages to enhance synergies between wildlife and trade policies.
The first day of the workshop would be a public forum and would serve as a briefing for delegates to the CITIES and Animal Committee, while the following two days would focus on the presentations given by the country teams.
More information on organic agriculture: http://www.unep-unctad.org/cbtf/
Contact: asad.naqvi@unep.ch
28-29 January 2008, Geneva, Switzerland
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.
On 28-29 January 2008 UNEP co-hosted a review meeting along with its IUCN and CBD partners to cross-review the first drafts of this publication with the authors and other key experts in this field. A half day workshop was incorporated into the two day review meeting with an expert from the European Environment Agency to look in more detail at how ecosystem accounting can contribute towards the development of IPES.
More information: http://www.unep.ch/etb/events/2008ReviewMtgIPES2829Jan.php
Contact: fulai.sheng@unep.ch ; chloe.hill@unep.ch
paper on “balancing biodiversity” at the BBOP side event of the SBSTTA Meeting,
21-22 February 2008, Rome, Italy
To facilitate the discussion on IPES, and other possible schemes for international compensation for biodiversity pressure, a discussion paper aimed at policy-makers has been jointly drafted by UNEP-ETB and the Netherlands Environment Ministry. The paper explores the potential usefulness of biodiversity offsetting and demonstrates how it is an innovative economic tool that can provide a way forward in global conservation efforts towards achieving the CBD’s 2010 targets aimed at reducing biodiversity loss. The paper also offers new ways in which the gap between the public and private sectors in the context of conservation can be bridged.
UNEP-ETB and the Netherlands Ministry of Environment will disseminate the findings of the paper at the Business and Biodiversity Offset Program (BBOP) side event of the SBSTTA meeting next month in Rome. The paper will also be presented at a side-event of the COP-9 meeting in May, in Bonn, Germany.
Contact: fulai.sheng@unep.ch; chloe.hill@unep.ch
8 February 2008, Geneva, Switzerland
UNEP-ETB will hold an informal technical meeting in Geneva on 8 February 2008 to review a revised version of the reference manual on Integrated Policymaking for Sustainable Development. This manual, based on UNEP's decade long experience with integrated policy assessment, is expected to promote the integration of sustainable development objectives into the entire cycle of a public policy. The initial draft was prepared by a research team at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. It has since been revised by ETB staff. After this review meeting and another round of revision, the draft manual will be circulated more broadly for comments from a larger group of experts. The manual is expected to be published in the second quarter of 2008.
More Information : http://www.unep.ch/etb/events/2007TechDiscusOManual1415May.php
Contact: fulai.sheng@unep.ch
International Symposium on Organic Agriculture and Africa :
Opportunities and Challenges for the Future,
23 February 2008, Nuremberg, Germany
The UNEP-UNCTAD CBTF, in partnership with IFOAM and other organizations, will organize an “International Symposium on Organic Agriculture and Africa: Opportunities and Challenges for the Future”, on 23 February 2008 as a side event of the BioFach 2008 in Nuremberg, Germany – the world’s largest organic trade fair. The symposium aims to generate discussion on topics highlighting the status and future of organics in Africa , including the potential of organic agriculture to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Trade Minister of Uganda Ms. Janat Mukwaya will deliver a keynote speech on the occasion. In addition, Ms. Patricia Francis, Executive Director, International Trade Centre, (ITC), and Mr. Alexander Müller, Deputy Director, FAO will address the Symposium.
More information on organic agriculture: http://www.unep-unctad.org/cbtf/
Contact: asad.naqvi@unep.ch
Pre UNCTAD XII event on Standards for Sustainable Development,
10-12 April 2008, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
UNEP and UNCTAD, under the auspices of the UNEP-UNTAD Capacity Building Task Force on Trade, Environment and Development (CBTF), in partnership with other organizations will organize an UNCTAD XII pre-event to discuss the role that standards can play to improve access of developing countries to international markets, promote sustainable trade and create an enabling environment for poverty reduction. The event, in particular, will focus on standards for production of organic agricultural products and the development process of the East African Organic Product Standard (EAOPS), which was facilitated by the CBTF and IFOAM, will be discussed as a case study.
More information on organic agriculture: http://www.unep-unctad.org/cbtf/
Contact: asad.naqvi@unep.ch
11-12 December 2007, Dakar, Senegal
This workshop was organized by Enda Diapol in the context of their regional dialogue on fisheries policy, supported by WWF, the Sub-regional fisheries commission (CSRP) and the Sahel and West Africa Club. It served to launch and discuss a joint Enda/REPAO/OECD study on “Fishing for Coherence in West Africa – Policy Coherence in the Fisheries Sector in Seven West African Countries”. Based on this study, a regional agenda was developed, specifically dealing with the issues of (i) Harmonisation of access to fisheries resources, (ii) Monitoring of fisheries and INN fishing control, (iii) Coherence between Fishing Agreements and Economic Agreements. A newly established “regional taskforce”, consisting of the workshop organizers, a few regional fisheries organizations, local NGOs or producer organizations, along with some professional groups and research centers, will be in charge of following up on the workshop recommendations. UNEP contributed to the development of the regional agenda by presenting its recent work and conclusions on fisheries subsidies and fisheries agreements. This includes various country studies analyzing the impact of fisheries subsidies and trade liberalization and analytical work supporting the WTO process on developing fisheries subsidy reform. Especially the idea of sustainability criteria for fisheries subsidies, to be integrated into national, regional and international fisheries subsidies reform, was seen as valuable contribution for ensuring policy coherence in the West African context.
Currently, UNEP supports the compilation, synthesis, analysis and publication of several country studies in Western Africa undertaken by Enda and WWF Senegal. This synthesis offers insights on environmental, social and economic impacts of trade liberalization and access agreements in Mauritania, Gambia, Cap Vert, Guinea Bissau, Guinea and Senegal.
Contact: katharina.peschen@unep.ch
29 January 2008, Geneva, Switzerland
UNEP and WWF, in collaboration with Oceana and ICTSD, hosted a Workshop on Fisheries Subsidies in the WTO in Geneva on 29 January 2008. The aim of the Workshop was to informally discuss in a non-negotiating context the first text proposal by the WTO Rules Chair (Ambassador Valles from Uruguay ) containing concrete WTO disciplines on fisheries subsidies in the WTO. The discussion focused on three main issues: (i) the scope of the proposed prohibition; (ii) the sustainability criteria that serve as conditions to the use of non-prohibited subsidies; and (iii) “special and differential treatment” of developing countries, including access-related subsidies and “artisanal” fishing. The meeting report will be available shortly.
Since 1997 the Economic and Trade Branch has been promoting the reform of fisheries subsidies and has succeeded in building up a constituency for reform through a series of workshops, analytical papers and country projects. WTO fisheries subsidies reform has been repeatedly cited as a unique example for creating mutual supportiveness of the international trade and environmental regimes.
More information: http://www.unep.ch/etb/events/2008FishSubWorkshop29Jan08.php
Contact: anja.moltke@unep.ch
As part of its work stream on fisheries subsidies reform and sustainable fisheries management, UNEP ETB has been examining the issue of fisheries access agreements. These agreements - in most cases between a developing country and a distant water fishing nation - generally involve government-to-government payments in return for foreign access to developing countries’ Exclusive Economic Zones. Such access arrangements constitute significant sources of income for some developing countries, in particular Small Island Developing States, and thus may be important to meeting legitimate development needs. At the same time, access agreements came under international scrutiny due to their negative impacts both on fisheries resources, leading to resource conflicts, and on international markets as well as to the lack of transparency surrounding them. Moreover, access payments are only very rarely reflecting the real resource value. This unfair and unsustainable situation has recently gained increased media attention as illustrated by the articles below.
The treatment of subsidies related to fisheries access arrangements has emerged as a sensitive topic within WTO fisheries subsidies negotiations. To enlighten this debate, UNEP commissioned a study on “EEZ Fisheries Access Arrangements and the WTO Subsidies Agreement” to the Centre of International Environmental Law and circulated the final draft in December 2007. This study aims to support ongoing WTO negotiations by, firstly, analyzing the legal framework governing access agreements and, secondly, exploring options for improved disciplines on “access-related” fisheries subsidies. The forthcoming technical and informal workshop on WTO disciplines on fisheries subsidies will touch upon these legal challenges.
Related news :
- Empty Seas : Europe Takes Africa ’s Fish, and Boatloads of Migrants Follow , First Article in a New York Times series on the relationship between Europe ’s demand for fish and the world’s supply, 14 January 2008 , by Sharon Lafraniere.
- Global Fishing Trade Depletes African Waters , Wall Street Journal, 18 July 2007 , by John W. Miller.
- Africa: And then there were no fish , IRIN, Humanitarian News and Analysis, 21 November 2007.
Contact: anja.moltke@unep.ch , katharina.peschen@unep.ch
26-28 March 2008, Tokyo, Japan
From 26-28 March 2008, the Institute of Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) will organize the final workshop for the NISD Partnership Project on Regional Economic Integration in Tokyo, Japan to present the final results of the project. The project entitled "Promotion of Sustainable Development in the Context of Regional Economic Integration: Strategies for Environmental Sustainability and Poverty Reduction" aims to provide policy-makers with strategic environmental policy options for promoting sustainable development in the context of East Asian regional economic integration. The initiative is led by the IGES within the framework of the RISPO II Project (Research on Innovative and Strategic Policy Options, Second Phase) and conducted in collaboration with McGill University ( Canada ), the Korea Environment Institute (KEI, Republic of Korea), the National Institute for Environmental Strategies (NIES, Japan) and UNEP’s Economics and Trade Branch.
More information:: http://www.iges.or.jp/en/ltp/activity_rispo2.html
Contact Mark Elder at: elder@iges.or.jp
at McGill University, Canada
In January 2003 the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences was signatory to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Environment Programme designating it as a UNEP Collaborating Centre in environmental assessment (EA). The mandate under the MoU is for the Faculty to conduct EA best practices, objectives and benefits through advanced workshops, seminars and symposia. The development of the Non-Thesis Masters Programme in EA is an initiative directly related to this important relationship with UNEP.
In the year 2007, a total of 12 students completed the Master of Science Programme in Environmental Assessment and a new programme has started in January 2008. This Master of Science is offered by McGill University ’s Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences to environmental professionals and advanced environmental science students as an initiative of the McGill-UNEP Environmental Assessment Collaborating Centre. The one-year programme provides a comprehensive coverage of environmental assessment through an intensive programme of graduate courses, internships, field trips and other activities, in cooperation with public and private sector partners, providing qualified candidates with a comprehensive exposure to the techniques used in environmental assessment practices worldwide. The Faculty also secured further funding, which will facilitate the setting up of the framework for an Environmental Assessment Office and the initiation of three integrated assessment research projects in developing countries.
More information : http://www.mcgill.ca/nrs/graduate/environment/
Contact: mark.curtis@mcgill.edu (at Mc Gill) and hussein.abaza@unep.ch
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