PRESS BRIEFING BY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF UNEP

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF UNEP

The violent protests at the high-level Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle last year had proved just how emotionally charged the current international climate had become on issues involving linkages between trade, development and the environment, Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) told correspondents today at a Headquarters press briefing. Those demonstrations had sparked debate throughout the United Nations system, and had raised questions as to whether the notion of trade and the environment, as mutually supportive, was a reality or merely wishful thinking. "We must ask ourselves how we can avoid this idea of trade having a negative repercussion on the stability of the ecosystem; the idea that liberalization is somehow linked to deterioration of the environment", he said.

Mr. Toepfer was joined by David Runnalls, President of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), to announce the launch of a new joint report: "Environment and Trade: A Handbook", which highlighted the issue and attempted to foster a broader understanding of the linkages between environment and trade so as to enable governments to develop practical approaches that would help shape economic policies. In his introduction to the report, Mr. Toepfer noted that close integration between environment and trade policies was necessary to maximize the benefits that trade could bring, in terms of increased human welfare and sustainable economic development.

"What we have produced today is not just a handbook", Mr. Runnalls said. While the hardbound copy would be "frozen in time", there would also be a corresponding internet Web site, sponsored by both UNEP and the International Institute for Sustainable Development, which would be continually updated and would enrich the information contained in the report as the debate on trade and environment changed. The most eminent addition that was expected on the Web site would most likely be the forthcoming discussions within the WTO of a new trade round. "That discussion will be both heated and intense", Mr. Runnalls said, "and it will involve a serious attempt, I believe, by the Northern countries to get environment and trade as an integral part of the negotiations for the new round."

Although the report addressed many of the "hot button" political issues surrounding the WTO and all the international Bretton Woods institutions post-Seattle, it was not an opinion piece. "It is merely a listing of all of the multifarious problems of trade and environment and a description of why they are there", Mr. Runnalls said. "So what we've done is basically publish an introduction to the issue, to give you some background on the various debates and a discussion of some of the regional trade agreements." The report also included a discussion of the relationship between investment and the environment. Both Mr. Toepfer and Mr. Runnalls stressed that the report and the Web site would use clear language and a "minimum of jargon", so that they would be useful for the general public as well as policy makers.

UNEP Briefing - 2 - 27 April 2000

The complex issues addressed in the report, such as intellectual property rights, the North-South debate and agriculture subsidies, represented the ultimate challenge for sustainable development, Mr. Runnalls continued. Now that the world's economic system and its environmental system were inextricably linked, there was a real worry on the part of developing countries that they had not benefited from trade liberalization. There was also outright suspicion expressed by those countries that the environment might be just another issue that permitted countries like the United States or Western Europe to restrict imports on health or safety grounds. "So this is a politically loaded issue", he said, "mainly because it is not that well understood." That was why a report such as the one launched today would be useful; it would discuss the major complexities of that issue as well as the role of the environment in today's trading system.

A correspondent noted that one of the main views echoed by delegations attending the recent South-South Summit in Havana had been that while developing countries were not against minimum standards on the issue of environment and trade, they were against attempts by Northern countries to determine what was best for them. Without better representation on the Boards of the WTO, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or other agencies, how could they overcome that obstacle? "This is a valid observation", Mr. Toepfer said, "and that is why we at UNEP are convinced that one of our main contributions must be capacity building." Earlier this year, UNEP had created a capacity-building task force with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), so that both environmental and developmental issues could be given equal consideration within the United Nations system. The UNEP was also conducting trade and environment "country studies", which examined the effects of trade liberalization on the environment in different regions around the globe. Capacity building would also take time and additional government funding.

"We have to do more", Mr. Toepfer continued, "particularly in making early assessments of the consequences of a specific measure to the trade of developing countries." Joining liberalization with bilateral cooperation on technology would create a "win-win" situation. "Trade liberalization must be used to close the gap between the rich and the poor." For that reason, it was more important than ever that developing countries be better integrated into the negotiation processes of world financial institutions.

Also on the issue of WTO reform, Mr. Runnalls said that it was arguable that the principal reason why the Seattle conference collapsed was that the WTO had not adjusted to the fact that it no longer had only 65 members. It now had twice that many, but still tried to function as if it were a relatively small "club" that could take decisions in small groups. "Developing countries felt, quite rightly", he said, "increasingly shut out of the negotiations in Seattle." The WTO was in serious need of reform in the way its negotiations were conducted. It was also important to note that there were at least 35 developing countries that were members of the WTO but could not afford permanent representation in Geneva. Since it was clear that the support of developing countries was more critical now than it had been in the past, the issue would present a major obstacle for the trading system as it began to face the challenges of a new negotiating round. "So if I were the Governments of the European Union or the United States, I would pay very close attention to the statements coming out of Havana."

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