1. Overview of Initiative
Division of Technology, Industry,
and Economics
Economics and Trade Branch
Overview of Initiative
Capacity Building Workshop on Integrated Assessment of Trade-related Policies and Biological Diversity in the Agricultural Sector
Welcome
·           Thank participants for joining us
Background and Purpose of Initiative
·           The global economy has undergone unprecedented levels of liberalization within the last few decades and this shows little signs of slowing given the number of international, regional and bilateral economic and trade agreements currently being negotiated.
·           For commodities and agriculture, such agreements often lead to changes in the prices that farmers are able to get for their crops, which naturally leads to changes in incentives for farmers and investors, and can finally lead to changes in the composition of a country’s agricultural sector.
The relationship between trade liberalization in the agricultural sector and biodiversity, like trade and environment more generally, is complex. In practice, however, more effort is required to understand the linkages to ensure trade policies promote – rather than undermine – national sustainable development, poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation objectives.
25-27 October 2006
Geneva, Switzerland

2. BACKGROUND AND HISTORY
UNEP-ETB:
PAST INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT INITIATIVES
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD):
ARTICLE 14
COP DECISION VI/5
COP 7 SPECIAL REPORT (COP/7/INF/15)
Article 14 calls on Parties to introduce appropriate arrangements to ensure that the environmental consequences of national “programmes and policies that are likely to have significant adverse impacts on biological diversity are duly taken into account.”
In furtherance of this goal, CBD Conference of Parties Decision VI/5 calls for the impacts of trade liberalization on agricultural biodiversity to be studied in cooperation with international organizations, including UNEP.
The CBD Executive Secretary responded to these mandates by preparing a report (UNEP/CBD/COP/7/INF/15), which provides an overview of different assessment frameworks currently under development or being used by various intergovernmental and governmental institutions, and examines to what extent these frameworks examine the impacts of trade on agricultural biodiversity. The UNEP Economics and Trade Branch (ETB) participated in this study and a section of the report is dedicated to describing UNEP’s past assessment work on trade-related policies.

3. OVERALL MISSION The overall aim of the initiative is to:
Support African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries in their efforts to promote national sustainable development, poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation objectives by enhancing capacities in these countries to assess, design and implement agricultural trade-related policies that further these objectives

4. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
Enhance capacities to assess environmental, social and economic impacts of agricultural trade-related policies, with a particular emphasis on the protection of biological diversity
Enhance capacities to develop and implement integrated national responses to the outcomes from the assessments
Support implementation of the CBD through increased understanding of factors that lead to a loss in biodiversity and protection of biodiversity associated with trade-related policies
Enable ACP countries to integrate the sustainable management of biodiversity and other natural resources in their negotiation of the EU- ACP Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA)

5. MAJOR ACTIVITIES Year 1: Year 2 - 3:
Trade and Biodiversity Reference Manual is being developed to provide guidance for assessing trade-related policies in the agriculture sector at the national level.
Year 2 - 3:
Pilot country projects will be implemented in six ACP countries. Participating governments will designate national institutions who will use the Reference Manual as guidance for assessing environmental, economic and social impacts of agricultural trade-related policies.
Year 4:
Subject to successful completion of the assessment stage, participating governments and designated national institutions will elaborate, assess and implement national policy responses.

6. YEAR ONE

7. YEAR TWO

8. YEAR THREE

9. YEAR FOUR

10. YEAR FIVE

11. EXPECTED OUTCOMES
Strengthened capacity for coordination and harmonization of sustainable development, poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation objectives at the national and international levels
Strengthened implementation of the CBD:
Article 14, 2010 Targets
Further refinement and development of agricultural biodiversity assessment methodologies and indicators
Implementation of policies which enhance positive effects and mitigate negative effects to biodiversity from agricultural trade-related policies

12. For additional information, please visit the UNEP-ETB website at:
THANK YOU
For additional information,
please visit the UNEP-ETB website at: