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Hong Kong Trade and Development Symposium
Session 7.3
Environmental Goods and Sustainable Development: Can WTO Negotiations Make A Difference?
16 December 2005, 10:15-12:45, Room 403
The session will focus on some key sustainable development issues pertinent to environmental goods and will look at whether and how ongoing WTO negotiations on the issue can contribute to a meaningful outcome.
In the lead-up to the Hong Kong Ministerial conference, environmental goods liberalisation, under Para 31 (iii) of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, has been singled out for technical discussions. While there may not be a substantive outcome on the issue at the Ministerial Conference, progress in negotiations on priority areas such as agriculture may lend further stimulus to concrete engagement, particularly by developing country Members. At present, many developing country WTO Members are still unsure about the benefits they could derive from trade liberalisation in environmental goods. It is uncertain which products will provide 'development' benefits in terms of exports, production and employment in addition to environmental benefits. There are also doubts as to the geographical impacts of trade in environmental goods and whether there will be sustainable development gains for some of the poorest countries, particularly in Africa in terms. Some critics have questioned whether trade liberalisation in environmental goods will result in the type of environmental benefits in developing countries as is widely claimed. The session will address these issues and seek to stimulate discussion on whether WTO negotiations on environmental goods can deliver a meaningful and balanced sustainable development outcome.
Introduction by Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz, Executive Director, ICTSD
Building Competitiveness in Environmental Goods Industries: Sectoral Lessons from East Asia by Joy Kim, Program Coordinator, United Nations University/Institute of Advanced Studies
Identifying Barriers to Environmental Goods Exports from the Asian Region by Hu Tao, Chief Economist, State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), China
Will Liberalised
Trade in Environmental Goods Bring Environmental Benefits? What is Needed?
by Dennis Pamlin, Global Policy Advisor on Trade and Investment,
WWF
Can WTO Negotiations on Environmental Goods Deliver on Sustainable
Development? by Sanjay Kumar, Director, Ministry of Commerce,
India
Open Discussion
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Joy A. Kim is associate fellow and co-ordinator for the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) Sustainable Development Governance Programme. In addition to her responsibilities at UNU-IAS, Dr. Kim is a Lead Author of the Global Environmental Outlook published by UNEP and a Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of International Management, Aoyamagakuin University, Tokyo. Her research focuses on integrated policy making in the area of trade and sustainable development and institutional coordination among international environmental agreements. She holds a doctoral degree in the area of International Environmental Policy and Sciences from the University of East Anglia in the UK. Before joining the UNU-IAS, she has worked as a PhD researcher for the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in the UK, and for the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) in Korea as staff researcher. She works and publishes on issues related to trade and environment, sustainable development, climate change, biodiversity, and environmental goods and services.
Dennis Pamlin is Global Policy Advisor at WWF. His background is in engineering, marketing and social science. Works part time (75%) for WWF with global policy issues since 1999. Member of WWFs Trade and Investment Programme, the WWF International Climate Campaign Team. Responsible for Corporate accountability during WSSD and wrote WWFs discussion paper on CSR. Responsible for the strategic development of WWFs trade and investment work in Asia. Edited the book "Sustainability at the speed of light" available at www.panda.org/ict. Latest publication for WWF is "Chinese companies in the 21st century - helping or destroying the planet". Right now working with a report about Chinese outward investments - changing the face of the planet and a book about Chinese concepts (traditional and modern) and sustainable development. Two major projects include sustainable trade and Investment with MOFCOM and NDRC in China.
Dr.Hu Tao is a Chief Economist at the Policy Research Center for Environment and Economy (PRCEE), State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) in China. He is also Chief Expert of Trade and Environment at the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) in addition to serving as a Member of Lead Expert Group of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED). He has also served as a Senior Fellow among others, at SEPA and has taught as a Professor in the Dept. of Political Science and Environmental Studies Program, University of Oregon, Eugene, USA. He has also been a Visiting Fellow at the Dept. of Agriculture Economics, Wye College, University of London and the Fridjof Nansen Institute, Norway. He specializes in the areas of Environmental Policies, Management and Institutions, Environmental and Natural Resources Economics, Trade and Environment Issues, Rural Environment and Sustainable Agriculture and Globalisation and Climate Change. Dr.Hu Tao has a Ph.D. in Ecological Economics from the Graduate School and Research Centre for Ecology and Environment of Chinese Academy of Science (CAS).
Synopsis | Agenda | Speakers Bios | Organisers | Documents
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The International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) was established in Geneva in September 1996 to contribute to a better understanding of development and environment concerns in the context of international trade. As an independent non-profit and non-governmental organisation, ICTSD engages a broad range of actors in ongoing dialogue about trade and sustainable development. With a wide network of governmental, non-governmental and inter-governmental partners, ICTSD plays a unique systemic role as a provider of original, non-partisan reporting and facilitation services at the intersection of international trade and sustainable development. ICTSD facilitates interaction between policy-makers and those outside the system to help trade policy become more supportive of sustainable development. By helping parties increase capacity and become better informed about each other, ICTSD builds bridges between groups with seemingly disparate agendas. It seeks to enable these actors to discover the many places where their interests and priorities coincide, for ultimately sustainable development is their common objective. |
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The UNU Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) is one of 12 research and training centres and programmes (RTC/P) of the United Nations University (UNU). Its mission statement is “advancing knowledge and promoting learning for policy-making to meet the challenges of sustainable development”. UNU-IAS conducts research, postgraduate education and capacity development, both in-house and in cooperation with an interactive network of academic institutions and international organizations. The Institute’s research concentrates on exploring the key catalysts and drivers of sustainable development to identify and address strategic issues of concern for all humankind, for governments and decision makers, particularly for developing countries. This includes the development and use of new technologies and approaches; the study of major trends and pressures such as urbanization, regionalization and globalization; as well as the exploration of integrated approaches to policy-making, decision-making and sustainable development governance. |
- Options
for Liberalisating Trade in Environmental Goods in the Doha Round,
by Robert Howse and Petrus van Bork, September 2005, DRAFT - comments
sought.
- Trade
In Environmental Services: Assessing The Implications for Developing
Countries in the GATS, by Colin Kirkpatrick, November 2005, DRAFT
- comments sought.
- Defining Environmental goods and Services and their Trade and Sustainable Development Implications: a Case Study of Mexico, by Enrique Lendo, October 2005. Commissioned by the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) and the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD). ·
- Environmental
Goods: Dispelling Myths to Identify Opportunities, Robert M. Hamwey,
in BRIDGES Monthly Dec 2005, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable
Development (ICTSD).
- Environmental
Goods: Where Do the Dynamic Trade Opportunities for Developing Countries
Lie? by Robert M. Hamwey, 2005, Centre for Economic and Ecological
Studies
- Presentation by
Sanjay Kumar: Trade
and Environment Negotiations
- Presentation by Dr. Hu Tao:
Key Barriers to Environmental Goods Exports from the Asian Region
For more information please contact Patrick Lunt.
