Dialogue on Biofuels, Trade Policy and Sustainable Development
16th June 2009
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The International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) organized a Dialogue on “Biofuels, Trade Policy and Sustainable Development” held on 17 June from 9h00 to 16h30 at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO, Room C.1) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Biofuels are a promising source of energy with major implications for global competitiveness, energy security and uncertain social and environmental impacts. Therefore, crafting policy and regulatory frameworks for biofuels nationally and internationally is likely to require intense debate, negotiations and compromise. Building on the current momentum that exists in almost all corners of the world, the stage could be set now for policies and instruments supportive of a biofuels strategy that would expand the benefits of globalization, and improve livelihoods and human wellbeing, while managing the social, economic and environmental challenges.
The objective of this dialogue was to discuss issues at the interface between biofuels, trade policy and sustainable development. More specifically, the dialogue presented three ICTSD research papers on “US Trade Policies on Biofuels and Sustainable Development”, by Jane EARLEY, “EU Support for Biofuels, ‘Environmental Sustainability’ Criteria, and Trade Policy”, by Alan SWINBANK, and “Proposals for Biofuel Certification and the Law of the WTO”, by Marsha ECHOLS. Copies of the papers were made available including the paper on “Biofuels Subsidies and the Law of the WTO” by Toni HARMER. Discussants were invited to react to these presentations followed by open discussions.
These papers are part of ICTSD’s Trade and Sustainable Energy series, published under its programme on Trade, Climate Change and Sustainable Energy, which aims to generate policy-oriented and solutions-focused knowledge on key issues at the interface between the multilateral trading system and various regimes and initiatives promoting the transition to a sustainable energy future.
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