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Coming up: 11-17 December
11 December, Washington DC, US. THE WORLD BANK, THE FINANCIAL CRISIS AND THE TRADE AGENDA LOOKING FORWARD. The ongoing global financial crisis and economic slowdown has important consequences for world trade, which is expected to decline for the first time since the early 1980s. The Director of the World Bank’s international trade program will survey this rapidly changing situation and discuss how the World Bank Group and others are responding. This session will examine a number of issues: How is the World Bank Group responding to the global finance crisis through trade facilitation initiatives? How will exports from developing countries be affected by the higher cost of trade finance as well as reductions in demand? How will governments worldwide respond to pressure to increase subsidies in some countries and adjust trade policies in others? What actions are required to maintain the supply of trade finance and to resist pressures for protectionist responses? Can multilateral cooperation bring the Doha round to a successful close in the near future and delivering on Aid for Trade commitments in the current environment? For further information, please refer to http://www.wita.org/index.php?tg=addon/4/form&id_app=25&trt_step=163.
11 December, San Salvador, El Salvador. FORUM ON SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FOR CENTRAL AND NORTH AMERICA. This Forum’s main objective is to increase the sustainability of the energy sector by strengthening the collaboration and cooperation between the countries in Central and North America. The dialogue will be focused around the policies and mechanisms needed to catalyse the use and development of sustainable energy in this area, including such themes as renewable energy, market policies and sharing of experience in the use and deployment of advanced technologies. The Forum will be followed by a private sector seminar titled, Energy in Central America: Renewable Energy, Integration and Investments. For information on the seminar please visit the following website http://www.iamericas.org/energy/events/central-america-energy-renewables-integration-and-investment.html. For further information, pleas refer to http://www.oas.org/dsd/reia/MeetingSICA.htm.
15 December, Geneva, Switzerland. SYMPOSIUM ON PUBLIC SECTOR IP MANAGEMENT IN THE LIFE SCIENCES. Organised by the World Intellectual Property Organisation. Public research institutions account for a significant share of the research undertaken in the life sciences. Public funds also support a large amount of life sciences research by others. Given the direct publish interest in this research and its results, coherent intellectual property (IP) strategies and policies will help to ensure that benefits from new technologies resulting from these investments, for instance in fields such as public health, agriculture and the environment, flow to the public. This symposium will explore different national approaches, institutional policies and public-private partnerships, with a view to learning from practical experience. It will provide a forum for informal discussion on these themes with the aim of reviewing the central issues in public sector IP management in the life sciences. The event is open to the general public and is free-of-charge. For further information, please refer to http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/2008/lifesciences/ip_lss3_ge/.
15-17 December, Sirte, Libya. FAO HIGH-LEVEL CONFERENCE ON WATER FOR AGRICULTURE AND ENERGY IN AFRICA: THE CHALLENGES OF CLIMATE CHANGE. The purpose of this conference will be to address the availability of water resources in Africa under the circumstances of increased demand by the agricultural and energy sectors and in the context of changing climatic conditions. The conference will analyse the present situation and needs, in terms of water for agriculture and energy, and the potential, the costs and the sources of financing, with a view to proposing to heads of state and governments the policies, strategies and programmes for effective use and management of water resources. For further information, please refer to http://www.fao.org/nr/water/events.html or http://www.fao.org/nr/water/docs/sirteconceptnote.pdf.
16-19 December, Bangkok, Thailand. UNCTAD-ASEAN Symposium on Flexibilities in International Intellectual Property Rules and Local Production of Medicines. Responding to the new mandate received from members at the Ministerial Conference in Accra, as well as a World Health Assembly resolution on a Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Department of Intellectual Property of the Government of Thailand are organising this capacity-building workshop. The workshop examines the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement obligations and flexibilities available to developing countries, and the least developed countries in particular, that can support the local production of generic pharmaceuticals. For further information, please refer to http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Meeting.asp?intItemID=2068&lang=1&m=16582&year=2008&month=12.
18 December, Brussels, Belgium. FRENCH-GERMAN ENERGY RELATIONS IN THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT: STILL POWERING EUROPE? This seminar is part of the l’Ifri Energy Breakfast Roundtable, and includes Hinrich Thoelken, Economy Adviser, Embassy of Germany in France, Christophe Schramm, French Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development, Jan Horst Keppler, Professor in Economics, University Paris-Dauphine and Fellow Research associated with the Energy Programme at Ifri, Kristina Notz, Research Fellow at Center for Applied Policy Research. For further information, please refer to http://www.ifri.org/frontDispatcher/ifri/manifestations/s_minaire_1033636016876/publi_P_energie_mar_s_______1222330555835.
WTO Events
An updated list of forthcoming WTO meetings is posted 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.
11 December: DISPUTE SETTLEMENT BODY
11 December: WORKING PARTY ON THE ACCESSION OF AZERBAIJAN
15+17 December: TRADE POLICY REVIEW BODY - SWITZERLAND/LIECHTENSTEIN
15 December: TRADE NEGOTIATIONS COMMITTEE
Other Upcoming Events
19-20 December, Paris, France. SIXTH WORLD FORUM ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: PRIORITIES, FINANCING, GOVERNANCE. Launched in 2003, the Global Sustainability Forum provides an annual meeting for decision-makers and managers from the worlds of business, politics, education and the non-profit sector in the French-speaking world, with strong links to Asia, the US and Latin America. This annual event is intended to bridge the gap between the World Economic Forum of Davos and the alter-globalisation of Porto Alegre. For further information, please refer to http://www.fmdd.fr/synopsis.html.
26-27 January, Bonn, Germany. FOUNDING CONFERENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY AGENCY (IRENA). A successful preparation process has paved the way to the establishment of the Interntaional Renewable Energy Agency, or IRENA. All United Nations member states are invited to sign the Treaty (Statute) at the Conference establishing IRENA, on 26 January next year in Germany. From that day forth, the Statute will be ready for signature by any states interested in becoming a member of the Agency. For more information contact: e-mail: info@irena.org; Internet: http://www.irena.org/index.htm.
4-15 May, New York, US. SEVENTEENTH SESSION OF THE COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. This policy session will focus on agriculture, rural development, land, drought, desertification and Africa. For more information, please refer to http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd.
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