The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) today launched a new capacity-building task force that will assist developing countries in integrating their trade, environment and development policies so that they are mutually supportive of sustainable development.
The Task Force will focus on building capacity at the national level using the technical expertise of the two organizations and their respective networks of experts and national research institutions. It will also contribute to building a consensus between developed and developing countries on the complex issues of trade and environment.
The two organizations hope that the ongoing UNCTAD X conference will serve as a launching pad for establishing a trust fund to underpin the Task Force´s activities and for broadly advertising its existence to potential beneficiaries. The Conference, which opened here on 12 February, continues through 19 February.
"Interest in capacity-building has intensified since the Third WTO Ministerial Conference in Seattle, which brought to the world’s attention the need for more practical policy analysis and for innovative approaches to trade and environment issues", said UNEP Deputy Executive Director Shafqat Kakakhel.
"We need to strengthen the development dimension in the trade and environment debate", said Carlos Fortin, Deputy Secretary-General of UNCTAD. "The developing countries require greater capacities to address trade and environment issues and to build confidence amongst governments."
The main objectives of the Task Force are to help developing countries and countries with economies in transition to:
- better understand the linkages between trade, environment and development;
- assess the environmental, economic and social effects of trade liberalization, as well as the impact of environmental policies on trade and development;
- develop and implement integrated trade and environment policies which promote trade expansion in order to maximize the net benefits to developing countries; and
- participate effectively in trade/environment deliberations at the international level.
The Task Force is being established in response to growing developing country demand for activities that are jointly supported by UNEP and UNCTAD. The launch also reflects the interest of development cooperation agencies in supporting capacity-building in this area. The Task Force will provide UNCTAD and UNEP with a versatile and flexible institutional mechanism to:
- undertake joint research work to address critical and emerging issues related to trade and environment;
- convene joint seminars and briefing sessions for policy- and decision-makers on the linkages and complementarities between trade and environment;
- hold joint national and regional training workshops and seminars for trade and environment officials and civil society; and
- implement jointly supported demonstration projects to assess the impacts of trade liberalization and to develop and execute policy packages for promoting sustainable trade and economic policies.
UNEP and UNCTAD have been actively cooperating in the field of trade, environment and development since 1997, under a memorandum of understanding. The Capacity-Building Task Force will add substantially to this cooperation, especially at the national level in developing countries, and accelerate the formulation and implementation of effective, integrated national polices on trade, environment and development.
