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March Too Early to Bring Ministers to Geneva: Lamy
A late March ‘stocktaking’ meeting to assess progress in the Doha Round of world trade talks will not involve trade ministers, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy told a meeting of the organisation’s General Council on Monday. “I believe that this exercise is best undertaken by senior officials at this stage,” Lamy said. The announcement had been widely expected…
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Environmental Goods Attract Renewed Engagement at WTO
Engagement in the WTO’s negotiations on liberalising trade in environmental goods is at a three-year high, according to a source with knowledge of the 18-19 February Special Session of the Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE-SS). The engagement has been spurred by a flurry of new proposals put forward by Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Japan and…
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Indian Official says Trade and Environment Should Not Mix
India’s chief WTO negotiator has spoken out against the possibility of bringing border carbon adjustments (BCAs) into trade talks at the WTO. Without providing specifics, Rahul Khullar, India’s commerce secretary, said that some countries are trying to bring environmental issues through a “back door” into multilateral trade talks and that India is against such a…
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The US and China: Trade and Currency in the Balance
Cavernous trade deficits and high unemployment are an unhappy combination, for governments and for open trade. When unemployment rates are high, as they are now - around 10 percent in the United States, and higher in some parts of Europe - politicians wishing not to join the ranks of the jobless find it harder to argue…
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De Boer to Step Down as UNFCCC Chief
Yvo de Boer announced his intention to resign from his position as Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) last Thursday. His resignation will take effect on 1 July. After leaving the UNFCCC, de Boer says he will continue working in his area of expertise, joining the Swiss consultancy group KPMG as…
- In Brief
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UNFCCC Announces Climate Talks Schedule for 2010
The secretariat of the UN climate convention announced on Tuesday that the next round of formal talks will be held from 9 to 11 April in Bonn, Germany. Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), described the move as “a quick return to the negotiations.” “The decision to intensify…
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British Minister Wants EU-India FTA Finalised This Year
British International Development Minister Gareth Thomas exhorted the European Union and India to finish negotiations on a long-delayed free trade agreement (FTA) by the end of 2010 at a meeting in Brussels on Monday. Britain is pushing for a swift conclusion to the negotiations begun in 2007 because it claims the delay is slowing trade and…
- Vacancies
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Vacancy
Position open immediately to support work of WTO mission in Geneva. Fluent Arabic and experience in WTO affairs required, preferably with background in NAMA and/or Services. Please send CV to daniel.crosby@budin.ch…
- Events
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Events
24-26 February, Bali, Indonesia. ELEVENTH SPECIAL SESSION OF THE UNEP GOVERNING COUNCIL/GLOBAL MINISTERIAL ENVIRONMENT FORUM. The Governing Council constitutes the annual ministerial-level global environmental forum in which participants gather to review important and emerging policy issues in the field of the environment. The largest global environmental gathering since Copenhagen, the forum will…
- Resources
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Resources
DEVELOPMENT, TRADE AND CARBON REDUCTION: DESIGNING COEXISTENCE TO PROMOTE DEVELOPMENT. By Jodie Keane, James MacGregor, Sheila Page, Leo Peskett and Vera Thorstensen. Overseas Development Institute, February 2010. The impact of climate change will impose new costs on developing country exporters, especially if markets do not work correctly and international agreements are not well designed. If…