Coming up: 5-11 June
5 June, worldwide: WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY 2008. Recognising that climate change is becoming the defining issue of our era, UNEP is asking countries, companies and communities to focus on greenhouse gas emissions and how to reduce them. The World Environment Day will highlight resources and initiatives that promote low carbon economies and life-styles, such as improved energy efficiency, alternative energy sources, forest conservation and eco-friendly consumption. The main international celebrations of World Environment Day 2008 will be held in New Zealand. UNEP is honoured that the city of Wellington will be hosting this United Nations day. The World Environment Day slogan for 2008 is Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy. For further information, please refer to the website at http://www.unep.org/wed/2008/english/.
7-8 June, Aomori, Japan. G8 + 5 ENERGY MINISTERS’ MEETING. In January this year, the Japanese government proposed to “set a global target of 30 percent improvement of energy efficiency by 2020″ in the Davos Forum (the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008). Interest at the G8 + 5 meeting is expected to centre on whether results along lines of this Japanese proposal will be yielded. Additionally, since the East Asia Summit in January 2007, the Japanese government has been calling for China and India to participate in emission reduction activities through the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and other multilateral schemes and bilateral talks. In APEC, the member states reached a non-binding agreement to “improve the energy efficiency by at least 25 percent compared to 2005 by 2030″ in September last year. Since the responsible ministers from “G8 plus 3″ (China, South Korea and India) will be participating in the G8 + 5 Energy Ministers’ Meeting as well, the focus will likely be on to what degree the new major emitters, China and India, can be persuaded to engage in the ensuing framework. For further information, please refer to http://www.shimbun.denki.or.jp/english/g8summit/aomori.shtml.
7-12 June, Johannesburg, South Africa. 12TH SESSION OF THE AFRICAN MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON THE ENVIRONMENT. The African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) is a permanent forum where African ministers of the environment discuss mainly matters of relevance to the environment of the continent. The 12th AMCEN session will entail, inter alia, a ministerial policy dialogue; consideration of matters related to the AMCEN process, including amendments to the constitution and status of the general trust fund; and deliberation on some matters related to the sixteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development. For more information please contact the AMECEN Secretary: tel: +254-207-624-289; e-mail: amcensec@unep.org; internet: http://www.unep.org/roa/Amcen/Amcen_Events/12th_Session_AMCEN/index.asp.
7-11 June, Muscat, Oman. 12TH SESSION OF THE INDIAN OCEAN TUNA COMMISSION. The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) is an intergovernmental organisation mandated to manage tuna and tuna-like species in the Indian Ocean and adjacent seas. Its objective is to promote cooperation among its Members with a view to ensuring, through appropriate management, the conservation and optimum utilisation of stocks and encouraging sustainable development of fisheries based on such stocks. Among the issues to be considered at the meeting is the future relationship between the IOTC and UN Food and Agricultural Organisation. For more information contact the IOTC Secretariat; tel: +248-225-494; e-mail: iotc.secretary@iotc.org; internet: http://www.iotc.org/
9-10 June, Cape Town, South Africa. BI-ANNUAL MEETING OF THE GLOBAL FACILITATION PARTNERSHIP FOR TRANSPORTATION AND TRADE. Some time will be devoted to the important issue of improving transit operations at this meeting sponsored by the World Bank. The Bank will also present some initial findings of a major global transit project it has recently commissioned. These should act as catalysts for further discussion. For further information please contact Monica Alina Mustra at mmustra@worldbank.org; or refer to the website http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21751326~menuPK:34482~pagePK:2524753~piPK:51421526~theSitePK:4607,00.html.
9-11 June, Cape Town, South Africa. THE ANNUAL BANK CONFERENCE ON DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS (ABCDE). The 2008 Conference titled People, Politics and Globalisation is jointly organised by the World Bank and the National Treasury of South Africa. It is a platform for the presentation and discussion of new knowledge on development. After four years of organising a separate regional and global ABCDE, both events will be merged to combine the regional and the global focus in one single ABCDE. The ABCDE 2008 will focus on three broad themes: globalisation, investment and growth; human development for equitable growth; and the political economy of shared growth. For further information, please refer to the website http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTABCDESOUAFR2008/0,,contentMDK:21508102~pagePK:64168427~piPK:64168435~theSitePK:4277148,00.html
9-11 June, Manila, Philippines. 13TH POVERTY AND ENVIRONMENT PARTNERSHIP MEETING. Established in 2001, the Poverty and Environment Partnership (PEP) is an informal network of development agencies and international environmental non-governmental organisations. PEP aims to improve the coordination of work linking poverty reduction and environmental management within the framework of internationally agreed principles and processes for sustainable development. The 13th PEP meeting aims to highlight experience from Asia and the Pacific with various types of interventions meant to simultaneously reduce poverty and improve environmental management. It will explore emerging thinking with respect to the most appropriate point of intervention and particularly the use of programme versus project interventions. Special attention also will be given to the interface of PEP interests with the ongoing adjustments to low-carbon growth and climate change adaptation in Asia and around the world, including new developments concerning environment and development financing. For further information please refer to the website at http://www.adb.org/documents/events/2008/13th-PEP-Meeting/default.asp or contact the meeting coordinator at pleano@abd.org.
9-12 June, Accra, Ghana. MEETING ON OPERATIONAL MODALITIES OF FUTURE WORK OF THE INTERNATIONAL TROPICAL TIMBER ORGANISATION. This high-level meeting of members of the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) will address modalities of its Council’s future work, including clarification of the operational issues needed to be considered on the entry into force of the International Tropical Timber Agreement, 2006. Arrangements will be made to approve and fund projects submitted to ITTO under the current six-month project cycle. The meeting will also include a one-day conference for ITTO African member countries focusing on regional challenges. For more information contact: Collins E. Ahadome, ITTO Secretariat; tel: +81-45-223-1110; e-mail: ahadome@itto.or.jp; internet: http://www.itto.or.jp/live/PageDisplayHandler?pageId=223&id=3915.
9-12 June, Montreal, Canada. THE INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC FORUM OF THE AMERICAS. As outlined by chairman of the foremost economic forum in the Americas, Gil Rémillard, “we are living in changing times, with many factors influencing us to think and act differently. In every area, be it finance and the economy, sustainable development or trade, it is vital to properly master these changes.” This year, under the central theme, Mastering Change: The Great Transition, the International Economic Forum of the Americas/Conference of Montreal will focus on how some of these important changes are laying new foundations for strategic decision-making. For further information, please refer to http://www.conferencedemontreal.com/2.0.html?&L=1.
9-12 June, San Juan, Puerto Rico. 24TH SESSION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN FOREST COMMISSION: The North American Forest Commission is one of six Regional Forestry Commissions established by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation to provide a policy and technical forum for countries to discuss and address forest issues on a regional basis. For more information contact Gail Kimbell; tel: +1-202-205-1661; internet: http://www.fao.org/forestry/site/30129/en/
9-13 June, Johannesburg, South Africa. INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCE FOR PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP PROJECTS. Improving infrastructure is a key priority imposing large challenges in many countries. It is more so in Africa, where countries strive to meet increasing demands for fundamental infrastructure services, while at the same time, stabilise fiscal conditions and enhance efficiency. Many countries are mobilising private participation for infrastructure projects, as successful projects have displayed economic and financial advantages. Successfully bringing projects to financial closure requires optimising outcomes for the host-government, project promoters, and creditors. The programme aims to provide hands-on knowledge and skills training for: planning, implementing, and financing public-private partnerships in infrastructure projects. Sessions will also integrate global experience and local market conditions. The programme will follow the project cycle from planning to implementation by examining how infrastructure projects are analysed, appraised, financed, and managed. For further information please refer to the website http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21748201~menuPK:34482~pagePK:2524753~piPK:51421526~theSitePK:4607,00.html.
9-13 June. TRADE FACILITATION FOR EXPORT DIVERSIFICATION IN SMALL OR MEDIUM SOUTH ASIAN COUNTRIES. This internet-based course aims at providing trade policy makers, advisors, researchers, private sector operators (representatives of agriculture, industry, and services), and export support institutions in small or medium South Asian countries (Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri-Lanka, Pakistan, and Maldives) with useful insights and better understanding of trade facilitation, transit, and logistics constraints preventing optimal export diversification in small or medium South Asian Countries. The course focuses on trade facilitation, transit, and logistics constraints and their implication for export performance of small or medium South Asian countries. For further information, please contact Course Director, Salomon Samen, Ssamen@worldbank.org and refer to the website: http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21772589~menuPK:34482~pagePK:2524753~piPK:51421526~theSitePK:4607,00.html
11-12 June, Cape Town, South Africa. OECD REGIONAL FORUM ON TRADE FACILITATION: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR EAASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA. The Forum aims to spur a constructive dialogue between key stakeholders (such as trade negotiators, customs officials, private sector representatives and donors) involved in trade facilitation in Eastern and Southern Africa, in view of helping countries better understand the issues under discussion in the ongoing WTO negotiations on trade facilitation and relate them to their domestic (and regional) policies, priorities and constraints; examining how best to reap the potential benefits of a future agreement on trade facilitation and match WTO commitments to countries’ implementation capacities; and exchanging country experiences with the implementation of trade facilitation reforms and technical assistance and capacity building at national and regional levels. The Forum will be preceded by the bi-annual meeting of the Global Facilitation Partnership for Transportation and Trade on 9-10 June 2008. For further information, please refer to http://www.oecd.org/document/14/0,3343,en_21571361_40049777_40051214_1_1_1_1,00.html.
WTO Events
An updated list of forthcoming WTO meetings is posted at: http:/www.wto.org/meets_public/meets_e.pdf. Please bear in mind that dates and times of WTO meetings are often changed, and that the WTO does not always announce the important informal meetings of the different bodies. Unless otherwise indicated, all WTO meetings are held at the WTO, Centre William Rappard, rue de Lausanne 154, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland, and are open to WTO Members and accredited observers only.
9-11 June: TRADE POLICY REVIEW BODY - UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Other Upcoming Events
16-17 June, London, UK: A NEW GLOBAL CLIMATE DEAL? ACHIEVING REAL COLLABORATION FOR A LOW CARBON FUTURE. This will be the 11th Chatham House conference on climate change. Topics will include how to balance economic growth with the need for emissions reductions in developing countries, developing low carbon technologies, carbon markets and equity, and climate strategies that can be agreed to in Copenhagen 2009. For further information, please refer to https://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/events/conferences/view/-/id/118/
17 June, worldwide. WORLD DAY TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION. The theme for 2008 World Day to Combat Desertification, ‘Combating Land Degradation for Sustainable Agriculture’, corresponds with the thematic agenda items to be discussed during the sixteenth and seventeenth sessions of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development: agriculture, rural development, land, drought, desertification and Africa. For more information contact: tel: +49-228-815-2800; fax: +49-228-815-2898; e-mail: secretariat@unccd.int; Internet: http://www.unccd.int
23-27 June, Bali, Indonesia. NINTH MEETING OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THE BASEL CONVENTION. The ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention (COP-9) on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste will convene in Bali, Indonesia. COP-9 will address, inter alia, the implementation of the Strategic Plan; Basel Convention Regional and Coordinating Centres; synergies and cooperation with other chemicals conventions; e-waste and end-of-life equipment; and ship dismantling. For more information contact Secretariat of the Basel Convention; tel: +41 22-917-8218; fax: +41-22-797-3454; e-mail: ; internet: http://www.basel.int/meetings/meetings.html
17-18 June, Seoul, Korea. OECD MINISTERIAL MEETING ON ‘FUTURE OF THE INTERNET ECONOMY’. Ministers from more than 40 countries will meet with global business leaders, technical experts and academics in order to agree new ways to improve global co-ordination and co-operation at the OECD Ministerial meeting on ‘Future of the Internet Economy.’ This conference is open to the media. For further information, please refer to the website at http://www.oecd.org/document/57/0,3343,en_2649_201185_40618809_1_1_1_1,00.html
15-17 July, Geneva, Switzerland. INAUGURAL CONFERENCE OF THE SOCIETY OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC LAW (SIEL). The Society of International Economic Law (SIEL) is a new organisation with a global scope for academics and academic-minded practitioners. It will be holding its inaugural conference on 15-17 July 2008 at the Centre on Trade and Economic Integration, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, at which Professor John H Jackson will give the keynote Robert Hudec Lecture. Internet: www.sielnet.org