Coming up 10-16 July
10 July, London, UK. PAKISTAN: THE (VERY) LONG MARCH TO DEMOCRACY. Hosted by Chatham House, this meeting will explore recent events in Pakistan. Six months after the parliamentary election, Pakistan remains in the grip of political uncertainty, convulsed by a severe economic crisis and on-going militant violence. Differences within the ruling coalition over the reinstatement of the judges dismissed last year and the future of President Musharraf have aggravated the sense of drift. Were the expectations of a ‘return’ to democracy misplaced, and if so, what now for a state whose stability is widely judged to be vital to global security? For further information, please refer to http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/events/view/-/id/881/.
11 July, London, UK. THE OUTCOMES FROM THE TOYAKO G8 SUMMIT ON 7-9 JULY. Hosted by Chatham House, Jon Cunliffe will review the outcomes from the Toyako G8 Summit 7-9 July and provide an overview of the Japanese Presidency of the G8 in 2008. At July’s G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit, world leaders will discuss the world economy, environmental concerns, African development and other pressing issues that must be tackled. For further information, please refer to http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/events/view/-/id/877/.
11 July, Santiago, Chile. SOUTHERN CONE REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON SUSTAINABLE ENERGY. The Department of Sustainable Development of the Organisation of American States (OAS), in collaboration with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), is organizing a Southern Cone Regional Workshop on Sustainable Energy. This workshop is a follow-up of the results obtained during the Inter-American Meeting of National Authorities and Experts on Energy for Sustainable Development in the Americas which was held at the OAS headquarters on the 3rd of March 2008. During this meeting, it was decided that four workshops would be organized in order to discuss the themes of the 37th General Assembly. These workshops would adopt a specific regional perspective. The objective of the Santiago Workshop is to increase the sustainability of the energy sector by increasing the cooperation in between the countries of the region. This workshop will focus on regional energy integration and cooperation as well as diversification of the energy resources and energy efficiency. For further information, please refer to http://www.oas.org/dsd/.
14-18 July, Geneva, Switzerland. 57TH MEETING OF THE CITES STANDING COMMITTEE. This meeting is organised by the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. For more information contact: tel: +41-(0)22-917-8139/40; fax: +41-(0)22-797-3417; e-mail: info@cites.org; and refer to the website: http://www.cites.org/eng/news/calendar.shtml.
14-19 July, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. SECOND AFRICAN REGIONAL MEETING ON SAICM AND ASSOCIATED UNEP WORKSHOPS. The Second African regional meeting on the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) will be hosted by the Government of Tanzania and will convene from 16-17 July 2008, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The meeting will be immediately preceded by the UNEP Workshop on Strengthening Chemicals Management Infrastructures, from 14-15 July 2008. It will be followed by the UNEP African Regional Consultation on Mercury, which will convene from 18-19 July 2008. For more information contact: tel: +41 22-917-8111; fax: +41 22 797 34 60; e-mail: SAICM@chemicals.unep.ch; and refer to the website: http://www.chem.unep.ch/saicm/meeting/afreg/Dar%20es%20Salaam/Default.htm.
15-17 July, Accra, Ghana. REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON IMPROVING FOREST LAW COMPLIANCE AND GOVERNANCE IN TROPICAL WEST AFRICA. Organised by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and the International Tropical Timber Organisation, this regional workshop will showcase possible approaches to improving forest law compliance at the country level. For more information contact: Steve Johnson, ITTO; tel: +81-45-223-1110; fax: +81-45-223-1111; e-mail: Johnson@itto.or.jp; and refer to the website: http://www.itto.or.jp/live/PageDisplayHandler?pageId=223&id=3970.
14 July, Geneva, Switzerland. THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF TRADE IN SERVICES AGREEMENTS. Services are now very much on the trade negotiating agenda, both in the context of Doha and also in the various free trade agreement negotiations. The implications of these negotiations go beyond market access, but also impinge on countries’ path to development and issues around ownership of resources within countries. South Centre, together with Routledge, is organising this event, featuring our guest speaker Professor Jane Kelsey. According to Professor Kelsey, “there is a fundamental contradiction between the global market model and the intrinsically social nature of services, whether they are social services like education and media, or finance, transport, energy and telecommunications.” These contradictions help explain the controversy surrounding trade in services and the stalemate in the GATS negotiations. For further information, please refer to http://www.southcentre.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=657&Itemid=119.
10-11 July, Bismark, North Dakota, US. PRAIRIE CLIMATE STEWARDSHIP CONFERENCE - ENERGY AND AGRICULTURAL SOLUTIONS FOR NORTH DAKOTA. The aim of the conference is to understand the responsibility as people of faith to respond to the challenge of climate change and communicate to our leaders, religious and secular, our concerns about climate change, calling for action. On the first day of the conference, attendees will hear from a range of speakers on topics such as climate change stewardship, ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and energy security. The second day will be their turn to participate and offer input. Individual attendees will choose from a selection of breakout topics and hear from an expert presenter who will share examples of practical actions and initiatives that can be taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These presentations and follow-up question and answer session will serve as a foundation for facilitated strategy discussions to follow. For further information, please refer to http://www.prairiestewardship.org/conferenceagenda.html.
10-11 July, Lima, Peru. ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES FOR INCREASING INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN. The Office of the Chief Economist of the Latin America and the Caribbean Region of the World Bank, jointly with ProInversion, is organising the international conference on Alternative Approaches for Increasing Infrastructure Investments in Latin America and the Caribbean. The event aims to gather policy makers together with representatives from investment banks, public development banks, infrastructure operators, risk rating agencies, international consulting firms, international financial institutions and policy makers, with the objective of exploring new mechanisms to foster significant increases in infrastructure investments in Latin America. The program will include eight plenary sessions, as well as three parallel ‘challenges and opportunities’ sessions on energy, transport, and water and sanitation. Main topics to be addressed range from ways to increase investments in infrastructure in Latin America and lessons from successful international experiences to new financial mechanisms to accounting for social and environmental issues in the provision of infrastructure services. For further information, please refer to http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21795484~menuPK:34482~pagePK:2524753~piPK:51421526~theSitePK:4607,00.html.
14 July, Chicago, US. CARBON COUNTING 2008. Carbon Counting 2008 provides concrete, practical takeaways including a clear understanding of current and future emissions requirements, how to meet those requirements and the information necessary for your company’s successful future in an increasingly regulated and environmentally aware marketplace. For further information, please refer to http://www.alston.com/files/FirmEvent/8151f0f8-35d3-4f4c-a16f-ef3c5a2addf9/Presentation/ceInvitation/Carbon%20Countying%202008.pdf.
14-19 July, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. SECOND AFRICAN REGIONAL MEETING ON SAICM AND ASSOCIATED UNEP WORKSHOPS. The Second African regional meeting on the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) will be hosted by the Government of Tanzania. The meeting will be immediately preceded by the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Workshop on Strengthening Chemicals Management Infrastructures, from 14-15 July 2008. It will be followed by the UNEP African Regional Consultation on Mercury, which will convene from 18-19 July 2008. For further information, please refer to http://www.chem.unep.ch/saicm/meeting/afreg/Dar%20es%20Salaam/Default.htm.
15-18 July, Geneva, Switzerland. INTERGOVERNMENTAL GROUP OF EXPERTS ON COMPETITION LAW AND POLICY DATE. The Intergovernmental Group of Experts (IGE) on Competition Law and Policy is a standing body established under the United Nations Set of Multilaterally Agreed Equitable Principles and Rules for the Control of Restrictive Business Practices (UN Set) to monitor the application and implementation of the Set. The UN Set is a multilateral agreement on competition policy, which was negotiated and adopted by General Assembly in December 1980. The ninth session of the IGE on Competition Law and Policy will focus on the following issues: the attribution of competence between community and national competition authorities and the application of competition rules; independence and accountability of competition authorities; and voluntary peer review of competition law and policy of Costa Rica Review of capacity-building activities and technical assistance. The session will also provide an opportunity for delegates to discuss the outcomes of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development XII. For further information, please refer to http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Meeting.asp?intItemID=1942〈=1&m=15324&year=2008&month=7.
15 July, Jakarta, Indonesia. SEMINAR ON WORLD TRADE INDICATOR (WTI) 2008. A new database and ranking tool by the World Bank shows that in 2007 most countries have continued to improve policies and institutions supporting trade integration in the global economy. Countries that have the best policies and institutions also tend to have stronger and more consistent trade and export performance. The World Trade Indicators (WTI) 2008 database and ranking tool allows benchmarking and comparisons of countries and customs territories across trade-related indicators and will help policymakers and researchers analyse the key at-the-border and behind-the-border factors affecting the trade performance of countries and regions. Drawing from international databases and including some new measures of trade policy and performance, the user-friendly WTI database makes it possible - for the first time - to rank countries and compare their performance on all policy and institutional dimensions, namely trade policy, the external environment, institutions and business climate, and trade facilitation, that economists believe affect trade and export performance. For further information, please refer to http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:21817819~menuPK:34482~pagePK:2524753~piPK:51421526~theSitePK:4607,00.html.
15 July, Geneva, Switzerland. WIPO INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON DIGITAL PRESERVATION AND COPYRIGHT. Increasing amounts of digital content are being produced and publicly disseminated due to the growth of the digital economy. There is also a marked trend towards transfer and migration of analogue material to digital form (”digitisation”), so that content can be easily and efficiently preserved, transmitted, and accessed. And yet, from an intellectual property perspective, the preservation of digital materials raises copyright issues in ways that analogue preservation does not. WIPO, in cooperation with the International Digital Preservation and Copyright initiative (IDPC), will organise this one-day workshop to survey recent developments and trends at the intersection of digital preservation and copyright. The workshop aims at contributing to the debate among stakeholders and policy makers on how to develop and improve policies and practices that support digital preservation of copyrighted content. For further information, please refer to http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/2008/cr_wk_ge/.
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.
10 July: WORKING GROUP ON TRADE, DEBT AND FINANCE
14-18 July: NEGOTIATING GROUP ON TRADE FACILITATION WEEK
14+16 July: TRADE POLICY REVIEW BODY – SINGAPORE
14 July: WORKING GROUP ON TRADE AND TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY
15 July: COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT
15 July: LAUNCH OF THE WORLD TRADE REPORT 2008
Other Upcoming Events
18 July, London, UK. POLITICAL ORIGINS AND RESULTS OF ECONOMIC BOOMS: TAIWAN, EAST CHINA, THAILAND AND THE PHILIPPINES. This meeting, hosted by Chatham House in association with the China Policy Institute, will examine important causes and effects of booms, or non-growth, in the four countries and the political as well as the economic factors. In recent decades Taiwan, parts of China, and Thailand have boomed famously. However, economically and politically the Philippines have remained relatively stagnant. Booms in the tiger economies came after agrarian reform and was predominantly driven by small and medium-size enterprises. Business politics now dominates all four countries. For further information, please refer to http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/events/view/-/id/873/.
24-25 July, New Delhi, India. TOWARDS A COHERENT TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY OF INDIA. This National Conference aims to provide a forum for discussion on the dynamic relationship between international trade and poverty reduction, at the national as well as international levels. It will address the need for mainstreaming India’s national development strategy to make use of the beneficial role that international trade can play in enhancing development and reducing poverty. The main conference themes cover regional trade openness index, income disparity and poverty; the need for mainstreaming international trade into the national development strategy of India; responding to the challenges of international trade and securing an inclusive path to development. Participants will include civil society organisations, farmer associations, business associations, media, academics, government officials, representatives from international and inter-governmental organisations, the donor community and media persons. For further information, please refer to http://www.cuts-citee.org/events.htm.
15-16 August, Dhaka, Bangladesh. FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE: CLIMATE FINANCING- CHALLENGES AND WAY FORWARD. Realising the importance of ‘Carbon Financing’ for mitigation and adaptation with the climate change Unnayan Onneshan - the Centre for research and Action on Development is organising a two day long First International Conference on Environment and Climate Change focusing ‘Climate Financing- Challenges and Way Forward’. The major discussing issues will be the climate change and impacts, assessment and management of climate change adaptation and mitigation and climate action financing. For further information, please refer to http://unnayan.org/env.conf/index.htm.