WTO: 2009 NEWS ITEMS
UN System bodies call for collective response to financial and ecological crises
A group of international organizations, including the WTO, says coordinated efforts to create a green economy are needed to tackle financial, economic, food, water, energy, ecosystem and climate crises. Their joint statement was produced by the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB), an informal group of heads of international organizations. This is the joint statement:
Green Economy: A Transformation to Address Multiple Crises
An Interagency Statement of the United Nations System
The
current financial and economic crisis is throwing millions of people into
poverty, especially the most vulnerable in the developing world. This is
happening amidst the ongoing food, water, energy, ecosystem, and climate
crises. Together, these crises are undermining the efforts to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals and setting back development progress of the
past few decades.
The financial and economic crisis requires a collective response from the
international community. Leading economies should continue and further
strengthen the coordination of their stimulus programmes to revive global
economic growth. Apart from addressing urgent needs in such areas as social
safety nets, health, and education, programmes should lay a solid foundation
for shared growth and sustainable development. Furthermore, the
international community should ensure that developing countries have not
only the fiscal space to launch their own stimulus programmes but also
access to international markets for a rapid resumption of trade.
Central to the new economic foundation are new growth poles that can
potentially contribute to economic recovery, decent job creation, and
reduced threats of food, water, energy, ecosystem and climate crises, which
have disproportionate impacts on the poor. Investing stimulus funds in such
sectors as energy efficient technologies, renewable energy, public
transport, sustainable agriculture, environmentally friendly tourism, and
the sustainable management of natural resources including ecosystems and
biodiversity, reflects the conviction that a green economy can create
dynamic new industries, quality jobs, and income growth while mitigating and
adapting to climate change and arresting biodiversity decline.
Such investments should be scaled up significantly in all countries and be
supported by national and international policy instruments and incentives
such as updating building codes and enforcement of internationally agreed
environmentally friendly shipping regulations. It is also essential to have
green investments at the community level to reduce vulnerability and
strengthen resilience. Major events such as the climate negotiations in
Copenhagen in December 2009 and the 2010 High Level Meeting of the United
Nations General Assembly on Biodiversity are opportunities for urging the
expansion of green investments.
To be able to scale up such investments, many developing countries will
require financial support. It is imperative, therefore, that the world’s
leaders resolve to deliver on commitments, including those made by G8 and
G20 leaders, to support developing countries, especially the most
vulnerable, in coping with the effects of the current crisis. This includes
augmented balance-of-payments support, trade finance, lending by the
multilateral banks, and concessional finance for the poorest countries.
Fiscal reforms can shift the burden of taxation from jobs, income and
savings to the overuse of resources, resource depletion and environmental
degradation, thereby encouraging green investments. Carbon pricing can
advance these aims. There is also a need for phasing out perverse subsidies
that encourage excessive use of fossil fuel based production inputs in
agriculture and fishing sectors. Both carbon pricing and the reform of
perverse subsidies, however, must be accompanied by measures to protect the
access by the poor to food security and energy. The revenues saved by
phasing out such subsidies could be reallocated towards the development of
green job skills, the provision of clean, affordable energy alternatives for
the poor, and support to other green sectors with broad economic benefits.
Trade needs to be revived and trade policies need to support both
development and the transfer of environmentally sound technologies. These
include technologies to make clean energy affordable to developing countries
as well as to support climate change mitigation and adaptation including
ecosystem-based adaptation. It is important to avoid any measures that could
result in new protectionism, including measures in stimulus packages. Early
conclusion of the Doha Round trade negotiations can facilitate a green
recovery, in particular the negotiations on environmental goods and
services, fisheries subsidies, and reforming agriculture rules that would be
conducive to fostering food security for all. The Aid for Trade mandate
should be fulfilled. Reliable finance should be provided to small and
medium-sized enterprises for investment in green businesses.
The shift towards a green economy requires education for sustainable
development including training in new job skills and newly required health
systems. All stakeholders must double efforts to provide training on a range
of skills for decent and remunerative jobs protected by adequate health
care. A particular focus should be given to the poor, vulnerable groups
including women, youth, and to small and medium sized enterprises and farms.
These green jobs training programmes can be integrated into both formal and
informal education schemes. Similarly, green jobs related health issues
should be taken into account by formal health systems. These efforts will
assist developing countries in leapfrogging to a greener and inclusive
economic development path. Skill transfer and the sharing of experience in
labour health protection is an area ripe for international — both
North-South, South-South, and triangular — cooperation.
Capacity of national and local governments should be strengthened to
facilitate the transfer of knowledge and technology, including by exploring
and using intellectual property related mechanisms for the benefit of
developing countries. The various parts of the United Nations System through
the United Nations Development Group should coordinate their efforts to
formulate guidance to UN Country Teams on mainstreaming green economic
principles into the United Nations Development Assistance Framework and the
Regional Coordination Mechanism. National development agencies could be
encouraged to do the same. Significant additional financial and technical
assistance should be mobilised to support the efforts of Member States to
shift their economies towards a green path. To be efficient and coherent, an
integrated approach should be adopted when pursuing a green economy. Green
investments in transport, renewable energy, tourism and long-term investment
in agriculture, for example, should aim to generate environmental and health
co-benefits and to expand agriculture and food production.
To ensure that short-term emergency actions do not undermine the longer-term
sustainability of interventions, stimulus plans should avoid lock-in to
business-as-usual patterns of consumption and production. In addition, a
sound monitoring and accounting system is essential. There is a need for a
rapid standardization and operationalisation of the System of
Environmental-Economic Accounting and additional systems that adequately
capture the social and environmental dimensions of economic transformations.
The solidarity of the international community is being tested. Let this
economic recovery be the turning point for an ambitious and effective
international response to the multiple crises facing humanity. The most
representative testing case is when governments meet to seal the deal on
climate change in Copenhagen in December 2009. Let Copenhagen be the turning
point for ushering in a global green economy.
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The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (BASEL CONVENTION)
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Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild -
Fauna and Flora (CITES)
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Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
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International Labour Organization (ILO)
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International Maritime Organization (IMO)
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United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
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United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
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United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
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United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
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United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
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United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
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Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)
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United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
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United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT)
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United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
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World Bank Group
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World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
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World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
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World Trade Organization (WTO)
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United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
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