United Nations Environment Programme Regional Office for Europe

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Division of Technology, Industry, and
Economics Economics and Trade Branch
Trade and Environment Capacity-Building

WTO Symposium on Trade and Sustainable
Development 10-11 October 2005
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Trade and Environment

• Mission
• Enhance capacities of countries to adopt a
  balanced and integrated approach to economic,
  trade and environmental policies, and maximize
  the contribution of trade to reducing poverty and
  achieving sustainable development

• Key Activity Areas
• Integrated Assessment
• Sustainable Fisheries
• MEA Implementation
• WTO Trade and Environment Issues

• Regional Trade Agreements
• UNEP-UNCTAD Capacity Building Task Force

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UNEP-UNCTAD Capacity Building Task Force

• Objective
• To help developing countries enhance their
  understanding of and address issues at the
  interface of trade, environment and development
• Areas of Thematic Focus
• Environmental Goods and Services
• Mutual Supportiveness of Environment and Trade
  Policies
• Organic Agriculture

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UNEP-UNCTAD Capacity Building Task Force

• Environmental Goods and Services
• Three Key Activities
• National and regional capacity-building training
  workshops
• Technical assistance
• Analytical research
• Environmental goods identifying items of export
  interest to developing countries
• Examining the relationship between environmental
  goods and MEA Implementation

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UNEP-UNCTAD Capacity Building Task Force

• Mutual Supportiveness of Environment and Trade
  Policies
• Two Key Activities
• National and regional capacity-building training
  workshops
• Four country projects focused on enhancing
  national capacities to assess wildlife trade
  policies
• Project partners (CITES Secretariat and IUED)

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Integrated Assessment of Trade-Related Policies

• Objective
• To enhance the capacities of countries,
  particularly developing countries, to assess the
  environmental, social and economic impacts of
  trade and trade liberalization
• Previous Activities
• Nineteen sector-specific country studies
• Development of reference manuals and training
  materials
• Current and Future Activities
• Integrated assessment and planning projects 11
  countries
• Follow-up activities focused on the rice sector
  organic rice

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Structure of Integrated Assessment Projects
International Advisory Group
UNEP Team
- Providing advice to projects - Suggesting
methodologies
Leading ministries
Steering Committee
National policy research institute
- Facilitating project - Performing analytical
work
Stakeholder consultations
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Sustainable Fisheries Management

• Objective
• To build capacities in countries to develop
  sustainable fisheries policies
• Previous Activities
• Analytical work on impacts of different types of
  subsidies and potentials for reform
• Five country projects
• Five international workshops
• Future Activities
• Analytical work on the role of subsidies,
  economic instruments and market integration for
  developing country fisheries

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MEA Implementation

• Objective
• To support governments and MEA Secretariats
  strengthen the implementation and effectiveness
  of MEAs
• Previous Activities
• Analytical work on the use of economic
  instruments in support of biodiversity-related
  MEAs
• Current and Future Activities
• Six country projects focused on integrated
  assessment of trade-related policies in the
  agricultural sector with a focus on biodiversity
  impacts
• Further development of analytical work
• Support for MEA Secretariats on trade
  negotiations

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WTO Trade and Environment Issues

• Objective
• To build capacities on WTO issues related to
  trade and environment
• Previous Activities
• Series of international workshops on enhancing
  MEA and WTO cooperation and information exchange
• Analytical work on issues related to WTO
  negotiations
• Current and Future Activities
• Development of analytical papers (EGs, fisheries
  subsidies, MEAs-WTO relationship)
• Participation in WTO regional training seminars
• International workshops

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Regional Trade Agreements

• Objective
• To enhance the capacity of developing countries
  to assess, develop and implement regional trade
  agreements (RTAs) in accordance with the
  objective of sustainable development
• Current and Future Activities
• Support analytical work on impacts of regional
  integration processes in Asia and the Pacific
• Launching of UNEP-OAS Working Group on Trade and
  Environment for Latin America and the Caribbean

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Thank You
United Nations Environment Programme Division of
Technology, Industry and Economics Economics and
Trade Branch The International Environment
House 11-13, chemin des Anémones Ch 1219 Geneva,
Switzerland Tel [phone] www.unep.ch/etb