G20 Summit: Green Growth?

Federal Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, and the Heads of five international agencies (OECD, WTO, ILO, IMF, and the World Bank) met in Berlin (Germany) on 6 October to call for coordinated policy action to restore confidence and improve sustainable and balanced growth and employment prospects ahead of the G20 Summit to be held in Cannes (France) on 3-4 November. According to a statement, "climate change and the protection of natural resources remain major challenges that could also become an opportunity for growth. Leaders stressed the need to: realize the potential for low-carbon development and green growth by targeted action in developed and developing countries; continue with the commitment of all international organizations to promote and work together on green growth; and ensure a successful Durban Climate Change Conference in late 2011 with a view to further promoting low-carbon development strategies."
Press Release with Joint Communique

WTO: Renewable Energy Arbitration

The WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism has established a Panel to arbitrate in the Japan vs. Canada case on measures applied to Canada's renewable energy sector. It will examine the case "Canada - Certain Measures Affecting the Renewable Energy Generation Sector" to determine whether Ontario's feed-in-tariff programme violates WTO law when providing guaranteed long-term pricing for the output of renewable energy generation facilities that source up to 60% of their inputs from Ontario. Domestic content requirements are not permitted under WTO law, although exceptions may be accepted for environmental purposes, if certain specific conditions are met.

CBD and Invasive Alien Species

The CBD Secretariat, in accordance with COP Decisions IX/4 and X/38 has invited reports on parties’ progress in raising issues to address gaps and inconsistencies in the international regulatory framework on invasive alien species (IAS) to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Submission of reports on these issues is invited by 25 July 2011.

CBD Notification

WTO: TRIPS and ABS

The World Trade Organization Council on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) discussed the relationship between intellectual property rights and certain provisions of the Nagoya Protocol recently adopted under the auspices of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). In this first exchange of views after the adoption of the Protocol positions on this issue remained essentially unchanged. The TRIPS Council also could not agree to invite the CBD Secretariat to brief the TRIPS Council on the outcomes of COP-10. [WTO News on the TRIPS Council]

WTO: Trade and Environment

An informal meeting of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Committee on Trade and Environment in Special Session (CTESS) met on 10-14 January 2011 where members reviewed the various proposals on the table covering the Doha mandate related to environment. Press Release