Special
Issue - 8 September 2003
BRIDGING
WORLDS - TRADE, BIODIVERSITY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
A diverse
group of participants at the 18th session of the Global Biodiversity Forum
(GBF 18), held from 5 to 7 September 2003 in Cancun, Mexico, sent a strong
message to governments around the world "of our growing concern about
the urgent need to mitigate the negative impacts of the current trading
system on the closely entwined fates of local communities, to which we
all belong, and the ecosystems upon which our livelihoods depend".
The Forum was convened
by IUCN - The World Conservation Union and its Commission on Environmental,
Economic and Social Policy (CEESP), the International Centre for Trade
and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), the Mexican Ministry of Environment
and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), Mexican Centre for Environmental Law
(CEMDA) and some 30 other institutions to discuss biodiversity and sustainable
livelihood issues related to international trade. It brought together
140 participants from over 40 countries, representing a wide range of
views, experiences and communities. In his remarks at the closing session
of the GBF, Mexican Minister of Environment Alberto Cárdenas Jimenez
described the GBF as a unique platform to express the views of different
sectors, emphasising that economic growth must take place within the natural
limits of ecosystems while respecting the environment at all times.
The interlinkages
between trade and biodiversity were discussed in three areas: trade and
sustainable livelihoods; risk, precaution and biosecurity; and the relationship
between the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Agreement
on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs). Each
workshop raised significant concerns over the impacts of trade liberalisation
on biodiversity conservation and use. As Mark Halle from the International
Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) noted in his closing remarks,
efforts to discuss the interlinkages between trade and biodiversity have
to date remained scattered with little interaction between the communities
involved. However, the recent broadening of the agenda in the WTO to cover
more and more aspects that directly impact on peoples livelihoods -- most
recently reflected in the explicit inclusion of environmental issues in
the trade round launched in Doha in November 2001 -- has made understanding
the intersections between trade and biodiversity increasingly important
as advocates in one area find their work impacted by activities in another.
"The environmental movement woke up one day to find the WTO in our
backyard," Halle noted. He stressed the need to identify and use
the opportunities provided by the multilateral trading system to achieve
the goals of sustainable development, while minimising the obstacles it
presents. He called on the environmental community to remind WTO Members
what they have engaged to do -- to promote a global trading system that
supports sustainable development.
Also speaking at the
closing session, Laurence Tubiana from the Institut de Développement
Durable et Relations Internationales (IDDRI) noted that the multilateral
trading system was in crisis, highlighting the need for a "joint
vision". She stressed the importance for countries to preserve their
flexibility to define their own development strategies within the overall
framework of the Millennium Development Goals. The challenge, she said,
was to identify the sustainable development objectives and assess how
trade policy can help or hinder the achievement of these objectives.
The results of the
GBF-18 will be presented to the Cozumel
Meeting of Ministers of Trade and of Environment, to be held on 9
September 2003 under the auspices of the Mexican Ministry of Environment.
They will also be widely distributed at the Fifth WTO Ministerial Meeting
in Cancun on 10-14 September, and the World Parks Congress to be held
in Durban, South Africa, from 8 - 18 September 2003. The final workshop
report will be available on the GBF website.
Co-convenors
and Workshop Organisers
top
African Center for
Technology Studies (ACTS)
American Lands Alliance (ALA)
Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)
Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS)
Environmental Development Action in the Third World (ENDA)
Equator Initiative
Foundation for the Revitalisation of Local Health Traditions
Fundación Futuro Latinamericano (FFLA)
German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Global Environment Facility (GEF)
Greenpeace International
Institut pour le Développement Durable et les Relations Internationales
(IDDRI)
International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD)
International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
IUCN - Invasive Species Specialist Group (IUCN-ISSG)
IUCN - The World Conservation Union
IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP)
Kalpavriksh, India
Mexican Centre for Environmental Law (CEMDA)
Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Mexico (SEMARNAT)
NAFTA Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC)
National Wildlife Federation (US)
Secretariat to the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD)
Southern Environmental and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (SEAPRI)
The Ramsar Convention Bureau
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
United Nations University Institute for New Technologies (UNU/INTECH)
Working Group on Environment, Trade and Investment (GETI) - IUCN CEESP
World Resources Institute (WRI)
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