EVENTS
For a more comprehensive list of events in trade and sustainable development, please refer to ICTSD’s web calendar. If you would like to submit an event, please email events@ictsd.ch.
ICTSD
11 February, 0900-1200, Geneva, Switzerland: WTO COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT: WHAT NEXT IN THE NEGOTIATIONS? - CAFE & CROISSANTS DIALOGUE. ICTSD will hold an informal gathering to discuss the state-of- play and prospects of negotiations on environment at the WTO in advance of the CTE special and regular sessions on 12-14 February. The Cafe- Croissants series are small informal gatherings in Geneva meant to facilitate constructive exchange within the trade and sustainable development policy communities. These meetings are ‘off the record’ and no proceedings are kept, in order to promote the open flow of ideas. Ms. Lai-Peng Yap (Malaysia), Mr. Tobias Nussbaum (Canada), Mr. Eduardo Tempone (Argentina) and Ms. Sarah Huber (Switzerland) have been invited to briefly present various aspects of the negotiations. The meeting will be held in the Maison Internationale de l’Environnement (MIE), 13 Ch. des Anemones, Chatelaine, Geneva. ICTSD’s previous Cafe & Croissants meetings are listed at http://www.ictsd.org/dlogue/cc.htm.
Coming Up This Week: 6 - 12 February
3-7 February, Nairobi, Kenya: 22ND UNEP GOVERNING COUNCIL. The 22nd Session of the UNEP Governing Council will address outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, linkages among and support to environmental and environment-related conventions, contribution to future sessions of the Commission on Sustainable Development, the Environment Fund and administrative and other budgetary matters. For further information on this event, contact Beverly Miller, email: beverly.miller@unep.org, or visit http://www.unep.org/GoverningBodies/GC22/. IISD Reporting Services’ Earth Negotiations Bulletin will be providing daily updates and a summary of the meeting, see http://www.iisd.ca/linkages/unepgc/22gc/.
6-7 February, The Hague, Netherlands: CHANGING DIMENSIONS OF THE FOOD ECONOMY: EXPLORING THE POLICY ISSUES. This Conference is organised by the OECD in collaboration with the government of the Netherlands to examine the changes underway in the food economy and explore the policy implications. The main themes of the conference are: changing balance of power along the food supply chain; food lifestyles and challenges for the food industry; and Transparency and responsibility in the food economy. For further information, visit http://www.oecd.org/oecd/pages/documentation/displayxml/0,3375,EN- document-0-nodirectorate-35999-0,00.html.
6-9 February, New Delhi, India: DELHI SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT 2003. The deliberations at DSDS 2003 will essentially focus on translating the priorities set at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) into action. It will also add value to the WSSD process through many action-oriented suggestions for the global community to realize the goal of sustainable development. For further information, visit http://www.teriin.org/dsds/2003/index.htm.
7-8 February, Budapest, Hungary: EMISSIONS TRADING AND PROJECT-BASED MECHANISMS: SYNERGIES BETWEEN EMERGING REGIMES. This Concerted Action on Tradeable Emission Permits (CATEP) workshop is organised by FIELD, UNEP and the Central European University. It aims to explore synergies, possibilities for linking instruments and possible conflicts between the new and emerging frameworks for the implementation of GHG emissions trading at the domestic, regional and international levels. It includes workshops focusing on the following questions: What role can project- based activities play in domestic and regional trading regimes? How can coherent accounting and institution building be ensured? (How) can different domestic, regional and international trading regimes be linked? What lessons can be learned from GHG emissions trading for other environmental issues? For further information, visit http://www.ucd.ie/~envinst/envstud/CATEP% 20Webpage/publications/ceuprog.pdf.
WTO
An updated list of forthcoming WTO meetings is posted at: http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/meets.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.
6&7 February, Geneva, Switzerland: WTO NEGOTIATING GROUP ON RULES.
7 February, Geneva, Switzerland: WTO SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT.
7 February, Geneva, Switzerland: WTO COMMITTEE ON BUDGET, FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION.
7 February, Geneva, Switzerland: WTO WORKING GROUP ON TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT.
10&11 February, Geneva, Switzerland: WTO GENERAL COUNCIL.
12&13 February, Geneva, Switzerland: WTO SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT.
Other Forthcoming
24-28 February, Rome, Italy: 25TH SESSION OF THE FAO COMMITTEE ON FISHERIES. For further information on this session, visit: http://www.fao.org/fi/meetings/cofi/cofi25/default.asp.
3 March, Geneva, Switzerland: WORKSHOP ON FRESH WATER AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW. Co-hosted by the Graduate Institute of International Studies, the Faculty of Law of the University of Geneva, and the Georgetown University Law Center, this forum will bring together scholars and policy-makers concerned with issues of water supply, trade and investment. Its purpose is to make clear problems of trade law for water management and international water law for trade agreements. For further information on the conference, please contact Makane Mbengue, email: Makane.Mbengue@droit.unige.ch.
6 March, Brussels, Belgium: THE EU BETWEEN JO’BURG FOLLOW-UP AND CANCUN POLITICS: HOW TO SET THE RIGHT FRAMEWORK FOR INVESTMENT RULES. The Heinrich Boell Foundation, in collaboration with the European Parliament, is hosting a public hearing to assess the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development on globalisation, trade and corporate accountability, and public-private partnerships in the field of water. It will address some of the sustainable development- related aspects of the EU’s services liberalisation and investment agenda in the WTO. The hearing will address the potential for developing binding rules for corporations at the European and international level and will elaborate on alternatives to investment and trade liberalisation. For further information, contact Heinrich Boell Foundation EU Regional Office: e-mail: Brussels_2@boell.de; tel: +32-2-743-41-05.
15-16 March 2003, New Delhi, India: COMMONWEALTH TRADE SUMMIT. The Commonwealth Business Council in association with the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, India and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is organising this conference on key trade issues to bring together the trade policy community within the Commonwealth, with leading figures of trade and industry from around the Commonwealth, to discuss trade issues in the context of the WTO Ministerial scheduled for Cancun in September 2003. The Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry will be hosting the event, which will be opened by the Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Pascal Lamy, EU Trade Commissioner, is expected to particpate, as well as Commonwealth Ministers of Trade, chairs and chief executives of leading companies from the Commonwealth and beyond, representatives from the WTO and international agencies, business organisations, trade experts, and academics. Participation in this event is by invitation only. For further information, contact Shondeep Banerji at tel: +44 (0) 20 7024 8229; email: sbanerji@cbcnet.org; or visit: http://www.cbcglobal.org or http://www.cbcglobal.org/events/delhi/Overview.htm.
19-21 March, Orlando, Florida: SUSTAINABLILITY THROUGH STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS. The Global Environmental Management Initiative (GEMI) is hosting a conference on partnerships that promote sustainability. For further information, visit: http://www.gemi.org/docs/GEMI2003conf.htm.
20-21 March, Geneva, Switzerland: DEVELOPMENTS IN WTO LAW. This conference, organised by the International Bar Association, will cover current WTO activities, focusing in particular on issues relating to the Doha round and dispute settlement. For further information on the conference, visit: http://www.ibanet.org/general/ConferenceOverview.asp? ID=655&Section=&Committee=.
12-13 April, Washington, D.C., US: IMF-WORLD BANK SPRING MEETING. For further information, visit: http://www.imf.org/external/am/index.htm.