BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest

Lead Stories
DRAFT TEXTS FACING DELAY, AS WTO CONTEMPLATES END-2008 FOR DOHA ACCORD	For weeks, diplomats at the WTO had expected the chairs of the struggling Doha Round trade talks on agriculture and industrial goods to soon come up with new draft agreement texts that were to be the basis for a last-ditch attempt at a deal.
ACP REGIONS SPLINTER, AS EU TURNS UP PRESSURE FOR EPAS	A bloc of Eastern and Southern African countries appears to be splintering in economic partnership agreement (EPA) talks with the EU, with some members of the group set to sign a separate deal with Brussels.
WORLD BANK: TRADE LIBERALISATION COULD BOLSTER EFFORTS TO COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE	Trade policies, especially trade liberalisation in low-carbon goods and technologies, can contribute to efforts to combat climate change, according to a new report from the World Bank. The International Trade and Climate Change (ITCC) report found that carbon taxes do not hurt countries' international industrial competitiveness, while energy efficiency standards are associated with a more detrimental effect.

In Brief	WTO in Brief
Energy Conference Considers Trade, Climate Change ASEAN Signs Comprehensive FTA with Japan, Services Deal with Korea

Events        &        Resources
Events	22 November, Brussels, Belgium. EU BILATERAL AND REGIONAL FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS - BRINGING WOMEN TO THE CENTRE OF THE DEBATE. This one day consultation by WIDE and the International Gender and Trade Network, sponsored by the European Commission, aims to raise awareness and create an enhanced understanding of the impacts of EU trade polices on women's livelihoods, gender equality and social justice in partner countries. Internet: http://www.igtn.org/page/761/1
Resources	MARKETS FOR ECOSYSTEM SERVICES: NEW CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR BUSINESS AND THE ENVIRONMENT World Business Council for Sustainable Development and World Conservation Union (IUCN), 2007. This report argues that, at a fundamental level, all economies and businesses depend directly or indirectly on the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable supply of ecosystem services and states that conserving ecosystems and sustaining the services they provide is a pre-requisite for prosperity. The report seeks to demonstrate that market mechanisms are a powerful complement to existing strategies for conserving ecosystems. Internet: http://www.wbcsd.org/includes/getTarget.asp?type=d&id=MjY2ODQ
BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest is made possible through the generous support of the Government of the United Kingdom (DFID) and ICTSD's core donors including the Governments of Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden; Christian Aid (UK) and NOVIB (NL). BRIDGES Weekly also benefits from support for the BRIDGES series of publications from donors including the Rockefeller Foundation and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.