Technical Co-operation
on Trade and Environment for the Arab Countries |
Implementation: UNCTAD
and UNDP will closely co-operate in further development and implementation
of this project
Beneficiary Countries: Arab countries
Status: in the pipeline
The League of Arab
States (LAS) informed UNCTAD of the decision by the Arab Ministers
for the Environment to develop activities in cooperation with
UNEP and UNCTAD in the field of trade and environment. The League
of Arab States also requested UNCTAD to organise a seminar on
Trade and Environment, in cooperation with the secretariats of
the WTO and UNEP. This follows a request from the LAS Council
of Environment Ministers.
Objectives:
The main
objectives of the proposed project are:
- To assist Arab countries
to participate effectively in multilateral deliberations on Trade
and Environment, in particular in the context of the WTO, and
to identify areas of common interest to Arab countries.
- To assist
selected Arab countries in strengthening their capacities for
policy-oriented research as well as trade and environment policy
co-ordination at the national level.
Activities:
Regional activities
proposed:
- A conference on Trade
and Environment, requested by the LAS, in May 2000. The conference
will be organized in cooperation with the secretariats of UNEP
and the WTO.
- Annual regional seminars
as of 2001, to examine the implications for Arab countries of
developments in the context of a new round of Multilateral Trade
Negotiations as well as to disseminate results of national projects
aimed at strengthening the capacities of Arab countries to deal
with Trade and Environment issues.
Activities proposed
at the national level:
- It is envisaged to
organize a number of national workshops as well as to carry out
country-level studies
- The TRAINFORTRADE
package and follow-up activities will also play a key role in
the context of national projects.
Supporting studies
and training packages:
The following analytical
activities will be carried out and provide input to the above mentioned
expert meetings and brainstorming seminars:
- Further development
of the TRAINFORTRADE package and its adaptation to the conditions
and needs of Arab countries.
- A conceptual study
on "Trade and Environment: the perspectives of Arab countries"
which will focus on the items of the WTO/CTE agenda and their
particular implications for Arab countries and also the elaboration
of a positive agenda on trade and environment for Arab countries.
- Empirical studies
on environmental policy, market access and competitiveness focussing
on some key sectors, including, for example, petrochemicals.
- An in-depth study
on the trade implications of the ISO 14001 standard on environmental
management systems, in selected Arab countries, considering the
particular needs of SMEs.
- A study on the ways
and means to facilitate access to and transfer of environmentally
sound technologies to enhance the environmental performance of
products and process technologies used in Arab countries.
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