EVENTS
For a more comprehensive list of events in trade and sustainable development, please refer to ICTSD’s web calendar at: http://www.ictsd.org/cal/index.htm. If you would like to submit an event, please email events@ictsd.ch.
Upcoming : 19-25 April
19 April, Brussels, Belgium. FAIR TRADE PUBLIC PURCHASING AS A TOOL FOR SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION PATTERNS. The final conference of the Fair Procura Project aims to examine the policies and practices of fair trade procurement, the impact of fair trade on the producer’s communities, and further steps the EU can take to ensure coherence between EU policy and fair trade promotion. The conference will be of particular interest to European and National authorities, fair trade and consumer associations, and universities. The conference is organized under the auspices of the European Fair Trade Association, CTM Altromercato, Fair Trade Original, IDEAS, and OXFAM Wereldwinkels with the financial support of the European Commission and EuropeAid. For more information, email fair-procura@eftafairtrade.org. internet: http://www.european-fair-trade-association.org/FairProcura/events.php
19-20 April, Singapore. GLOBAL BUSINESS SUMMIT FOR THE ENVRIONMENT. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Global Compact jointly organised this seminar to address rising market risks and opportunities of environmental change caused by rapid economic and industry growth. Topics to be discussed include environmental performance management, green investing, sustainable building, and public-private sector partnerships. CEOs and executives from global companies will join government and civil society leaders to discuss these issues, forge partnerships, and explore solutions for a greener future. internet: http://www.b4e07.com/
20-22 April , Jongny, Switzerland. Trade and Labour Migration: Developing Good Practices to Facilitate Temporary Labour Mobility. Organised by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development and the National Centre for Competence in Research, this workshop aims to foster a better understanding between stakeholders from both sending and receiving countries on the development of good practices to facilitate labour mobility. The workshop will feature discussions and presentations from practitioners, scholars, and government officials. Issues to be discussed include the international and multilateral foundations of labour migration, examples of good practices of sending countries to facilitate return migration, examples of law and practice of receiving countries in facilitating labour mobility, and what can be learned from bilateral agreements. For more information, contact Heidi Ullrich: hullrich@ictsd.ch, tel: +41 (0)22 917 88 46; fax: +41 (0)22 917 80 93. internet: http://www.ictsd.org/dlogue/2007-04-20/2007-04-20-desc.htm
24-26 April 2007, São Paulo, Brazil. SECOND IBERO-AMERICAN CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. Organized by the World Business Council on Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and its Brazilian affiliate (CEBDS), with the support of UNESCO, UN University, and UNEP, the conference will bring together businesses, academics, specialists, policy makers, and NGOs from Latin America to address the challenges of sustainable development for society, business, and government, and share experiences with sustainable practices. internet: http://www.sustentavel.org.br (in Portuguese) or http://www.wbcsd.ch.
25-27 April, Geneva, Switzerland. JOINT ADVISORY GROUP ON THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE (ITC), 40th SESSION. Trade promotion authorities from the Member states of the WTO and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) will meet to examine the activities of the ITC and make recommendations to the UNCTAD Trade and Development Board and the WTO General Council. internet: http://www.unctad.org/Templates/meeting.asp?intItemID=1942&lang=1&m=13301&info=not
WTO
An updated list of forthcoming WTO meetings is posted at: http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/events_e/events_e.htm. 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.
19 April: WORKING PARTY ON GATS RULES
20 April: WORKING PARTY ON DOMESTIC REGULATION
23 April: COMMITTEE ON SAFEGUARDS
24 April: COMMITTEE ON ANTI-DUMPING PRACTICES- INFORMAL GROUP ON ANTI-CIRCUMVENTION
24 April: COMMITTEE ON ANTI-DUMPING PRACTICES- WORKING GROUP ON IMPLEMENTATION
24 April: DISPUTE SETTLEMENT BODY
25 April: COMMITTEE ON BUDGET, FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION
Other Upcoming
26 April, International. WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DAY. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) will celebrate the link between intellectual property (IP) and creativity; this year’s theme is ‘Encouraging Creativity’. The IP system is what sustains and nourishes the world’s creative community. The day will be celebrated through various seminars and ceremonies organized by national IP authorities to promote understanding and respect for intellectual property. internet:http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/world_ip/2007/
26-27 April, Washington, DC. NEW PERSPECTIVES ON FINANCIAL GLOBALIZATION. This conference, organised by the International Monetary Fund’s Research Department and Cornell University, will be a forum for presenting and discussing recent theoretical and empirical research on the macroeconomic implications of financial globalization. For more information, contact Christy Gray: cgray@imf.org, tel: + 1 202 623 4308. internet: http://www.imf.org/external/np/seminars/eng/2007/finglo/042607.htm
30 April-11 May, New York, US. UN COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. The fifteenth session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-15) will focus on the areas of energy for sustainable development, industrial development, air pollution/atmosphere, and climate change. For further information contact the Division for Sustainable Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs; tel: +1 212 963 8102; fax: +1 212 963 4260; e-mail: dsd@un.org; internet: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/policy.htm.
4 May, New York, US. HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS AND ALTERNATIVES IN THE ENERGY AND TRANSPORT SECTORS: POLICY ISSUES FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. Recent advances in the application of hydrogen fuel cells in transportation and energy sectors have attracted attention and increased funding for research and development of this promising solution to oil dependency in transportation. Developing countries have previously been unprepared to deal with and apply new technologies, leading to ‘knowledge gaps’. As a side event to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in New York organized by UN University, this session aims to contribute to building capacity on hydrogen and fuel cells and to the development of roadmaps for a portfolio of choices for the use of sustainable energy sources within the energy and transport sector in developing countries. internet: http://www.merit.unu.edu/hfc/docs/200705_CSD.pdf
2-3 May, Minneapolis, US. TOWARD A GLOBAL FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL POLICY FOR AN OPEN INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY. The worldwide tendency to consider food and agricultural policies from a national or domestic perspective has created barriers to the efficient use of the world’s agricultural resources and reduced the contributions that agriculture can make to global economic welfare. This symposium to honour University of Minnesota Regents Professor Emeritus G. Edward Schuh will bring together scholars and policy experts to discuss how to move toward a global food and agricultural policy for an open international economy. For more information, including presenters and paper topics, please see internet: http://www.hhh.umn.edu/schuh_symposium/index.html.