Report from Meeting on 13th May

Th.Ruddy's Report

Report from Meeting on 13th May on Trade and Climate

Interesting speakers were:

Notaro , DG Environment, outlined the many conferences in the run-up to Copenhagen

Thomas Ruddy asked about whether the climate dossier will go to DG Energy. Answer: no decision before summer.

Sugathan, ICTSD, Geneva, spoke on Environmental Goods and Services (EGS) and IPRs. He referred to a 2008 study by Jha (PDF) and a forthcoming study by her on renewables (PDF). He also referred to new studies by Barton and Abbott, respectively. However, neither IPRs nor tariff reductions proved decisive in mitigating climate change.

ICTSD has produced a policy discussion paper entitled Climate Change and Trade on the Road to Copenhagen.
TheWorld Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) has an interesting Eco-Patent Commmons, which could be improved as discussed on GreenBiz and outlined here.

Holm, Swedish Nature Conservation, Sweden, dared to challenge the Commission's Global Europe strategy.
Czaga, DG Trade, concluded that granting sweeping exceptions from patent protection to developing countries wouldn't matter as a means of mitigating climate change; instead technical capacity, market size and purchasing power do. Use economic instruments instead.

Thomas Ruddy posed the question as to what happens if, as speakers confirm, tariffs don't matter; patents don't matter. What does matter is investment. Impose emission limits; investment in clean tech. will follow. We need a global contract a North-South agreement on burden sharing and co-financing. We must therefore use diplomacy. If all else fails in Copenhagen in December, must we fear Border Trade Adjustments (BTA) and an emphasis on competitiveness that could cause a trade war?

Answer from Czaga: The Commission is aware of the problem of carbon leakage. Thre are various possible outcomes: the outcome from Copenhagen may not be positive, in 2010 a decision will be made on a BTA, an adjustment may be made to the free allocation of carbon permits for energy-intensive industries. The latter development with free allocation had been criticized by WWF as described in the press citing Susanne Droege of Climate Strategies.

Further related activities: A conversation on policy incoherence will be held with senior WTO mission officials and senior WTO staff on 16 June in Geneva. In conjunction with the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies and the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, a representation of the GPC2009 project is hosting a briefing on its work looking specifically at coherence in the trade-climate nexus.

Updated: 18th May 2009

Surf back up to http://www.wsis.ethz.ch/seri.htm SERI member page Thomas Ruddy

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