Biofuels are a promising source of energy with major implications for global competitiveness, energy security and uncertain social and environmental impacts. Therefore, crafting policy and regulatory frameworks for biofuels nationally and internationally is likely to require intense debate, negotiations and compromise. Building on the current momentum that exists in almost all corners of the world, the stage could be set now for policies and instruments supportive of a biofuels strategy that would expand the benefits of globalization, and improve livelihoods and human wellbeing, while managing the social, economic and environmental challenges.

The objective of this dialogue was to discuss issues at the interface between biofuels, trade policy and sustainable development. More specifically, the dialogue presented three ICTSD research papers on “US Trade Policies on Biofuels and Sustainable Development”, by Jane EARLEY, “EU Support for Biofuels, ‘Environmental Sustainability’ Criteria, and Trade Policy”, by Alan SWINBANK, and “Proposals for Biofuel Certification and the Law of the WTO”, by Marsha ECHOLS. Copies of the papers were made available including the paper on “Biofuels Subsidies and the Law of the WTO” by Toni HARMER. Discussants were invited to react to these presentations followed by open discussions.

These papers are part of ICTSD’s Trade and Sustainable Energy series, published under its programme on Trade, Climate Change and Sustainable Energy, which aims to generate policy-oriented and solutions-focused knowledge on key issues at the interface between the multilateral trading system and various regimes and initiatives promoting the transition to a sustainable energy future.

19-20 May, Hotel Marina, Rio de Janeiro

2009 promises to be a year full of challenges as well as opportunities. The global economic crisis has battered economies worldwide and coming out of it will test the capabilities of all nations - developed as well as developing – to be creative and resilient. At the same time it also offers a good occasion for policymakers to rethink the nature and patterns of investment and economic growth so as to make it more sustainable, economically as well as environmentally. The urgency and importance of tackling climate change and the need to build political consensus in the UNFCCC summit in Copenhagen towards the end of the year offers a good opportunity for countries to engage in constructive thinking and action to craft sustainable growth strategies.

The adverse impacts of climate change will be felt most heavily in developing countries. Trade can be an important tool in helping these countries build economic resilience and also aid worldwide economic recovery. Yet, such economic recovery will need to be responsive to the climate change needs and concerns. Business as usual is clearly not an option. A number of countries indeed are taking steps towards ‘greening’ their economies as part of economic stimulus packages to escape the crisis.

Since the Trade Ministers’ meeting on the margins of the UNFCCC’s COP-13 in Bali, there has been some basic agreement on and lively analytical debate of the nexus between trade and climate change. For the most part, the thrust has been for ways in which the trade regime might help address climate change, while at the same time furthering its own objectives (as with the possibility of liberalization in trade of low-carbon goods). There has likewise been some nascent thinking on how to ensure mutual supportiveness between the two regimes. Absent in large part from this however has been serious consideration of the implications of this debate for developing countries, and for overall development objectives such as the Millennium Development Goals particularly at a regional level.

As a contribution to this debate, the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable (ICTSD), The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Centro de Estudos de Integração e Desenvolvimento (CINDES) in Brazil are organising the Latin American Regional Dialogue on Trade and Climate Change, designed to bring out Latin American developing country perspectives and input on the issues at the heart of the trade and climate change interface.

The objectives of the Latin American Regional Dialogue are to:

1) Explore issues at the interface of trade and climate change that are of concern and interest to Latin America;

2) Identify a positive agenda able to contribute to engagement of Latin American countries in the process of negotiations towards Copenhagen;

3) Provide a platform for interaction and exchange amongst climate change and trade negotiators; policy-makers, and other stakeholders in the private sector and civil society, in Latin America.

The consultations will be multi-stakeholder, bringing together Latin American NGOs, private sector actors and governments. Among the issues and questions sought to be examined include:

• What sorts of barriers are there to the diffusion and dissemination of clean energy technologies? Are IPRs a significant barrier? What in-country policy changes might foster greater investment flows (both domestic and foreign)? What sorts of institutions, both domestic and international, might help address the problems?

• Would reform of the WTO subsidies structures be helpful to developing country governments pursuing adaptation objectives (e.g., for supporting R&D, for helping firms meet pollution control costs)?

• What kinds of impacts would developing countries feel if border carbon adjustment measures were imposed in OECD countries? Would these be significant economically? Would they in the end be helpful or hindering in encouraging strong action on climate change from developing countries?

• What specific trade and competitiveness concerns may arise in developing countries as a result of action international to mitigate climate and how could they be addressed in both the trade and climate regime?

• What kinds of policy flexibility do developing countries need to pursue adaptation to pending climate change impacts particularly in sectors economically important to Latin American countries? Do these needs suggest changes to the existing WTO rules in such areas as agriculture, or changes in the thrust of the Doha talks? What about regional or bilateral trade and investment agreements?

The answers to these questions and others will feed into the work programmes of ICTSD, IISD and relevant regional institutions on trade and climate change, and more broadly into the wider debates in the area. The results will be part of the input for trade and climate change meetings expected in Copenhagen’s seminal COP-15, and should also feed into any discussions on trade and climate change that might take place in the WTO setting.

[1] This dialogue is part of IISD’s Bali to Copenhagen programme which involves research, analysis and networking on trade and climate change issues.  IISD gratefully acknowledges the support for this programme provided by the Ministries for Foreign Affairs of Norway, Sweden and Finland. On ICTSD’s side, this dialogue is conducted under its Global Platform on Climate Change, Trade Policies and Sustainable Energy. An initiative is supported by DANIDA (Denmark); Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland; the Department for International Development (U.K.); the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Sweden; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway; and the Commonwealth Secretariat

1) Explore the issues at the interface of trade and climate change of concern and interests to African countries;

2) Identify a positive agenda able to contribute to engagement of African countries in the process of negotiations towards the UNFCCC Copenhagen summit in December;

3) Provide a platform for interaction and exchange amongst climate change and trade negotiators; policy-makers; private sector; academia; and civil society.

The dialogue will bring together Geneva-based trade negotiators from Africa; climate change negotiators, policy-makers; climate change and development analysts; civil society and private sector representatives; experts; academics; and IGOs for two days to discuss these issues and identify the policy priorities and future research agendas to address key trade and climate change issues for these countries.

Please, visit the Website of the UNFCCC for more Informations!

The adverse impacts of climate change will be felt most heavily in developing countries. Trade can be an important tool in helping these countries build economic resilience and also aid worldwide economic recovery. Yet, such economic recovery will need to be responsive to the climate change needs and concerns. Business as usual is clearly not an option. A number of countries indeed are taking steps towards ‘greening’ their economies as part of economic stimulus packages to escape the crisis.

Since the Trade Ministers’ meeting on the margins of the UNFCCC’s COP-13 in Bali, there has been some basic agreement on and lively analytical debate of the nexus between trade and climate change. For the most part, the thrust has been for ways in which the trade regime might help address climate change, while at the same time furthering its own objectives (as with the possibility of liberalization in trade of low-carbon goods). There has likewise been some nascent thinking on how to ensure mutual supportiveness between the two regimes. Absent in large part from this however has been serious consideration of the implications of this debate for developing countries, and for overall development objectives such as the Millennium Development Goals particularly at a regional level.

As a contribution to this debate, the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable (ICTSD), The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the International institute for Trade and Development (ITD) in Thailand is organising the Asia Regional Dialogue on trade and climate change, designed to bring out Asian developing country perspectives and input on the issues at the heart of the trade and climate change interface.

The objectives of the Asia Regional Dialogue are to:

1) Explore issues at the interface of trade and climate change that are of concern and
interest to the developing countries in Asia;

2) Identify a positive agenda able to contribute to engagement of Asian developing countries in the process of negotiations towards Copenhagen;

3) Provide a platform for interaction and exchange amongst climate change and trade negotiators; policy-makers, and other stakeholders in the private sector and civil society, in Asia.

The consultations will be multi-stakeholder, bringing together Asian NGOs, private sector actors and governments. Among the issues and questions sought to be examined include:

• What sorts of barriers are there to the diffusion and dissemination of clean energy
technologies? Are lPRs a significant barrier? What in-country policy changes might foster greater investment flows (both domestic and foreign)? What sorts of institutions, both domestic and international, might help address the problems?

• Would reform of the WTO subsidies structures be helpful to developing country
governments pursuing adaptation objectives (e.g., for supporting R&D, for helping firms meet pollution control costs)?

• What kinds of impacts would developing countries feel if border carbon adjustment measures were imposed in OECD countries? Would these be significant economically? Would they in the end be helpful or hindering in encouraging strong action on climate change from developing countries?

• What specific trade and competitiveness concerns may arise in developing countries as a result of action international to mitigate climate and how could they be addressed in both the trade and climate regime?

• What kinds of policy flexibility do developing countries need to pursue adaptation to pending climate change impacts particularly in sectors economically important to Asian countries? Do these needs suggest changes to the existing WTO rules in such areas as agriculture, or changes in the thrust of the Doha talks? What about regional or bilateral trade and investment agreements?

The answers to these questions and others will feed into the work programmes of ICTSD, IISD and relevant regional institutions on trade and climate change, and more broadly into the wider debates in the area. The results will be part of the input for trade and climate change meetings expected in Copenhagen’s seminal COP-15, and should also feed into any discussions on trade and climate change that might take place in the WTO setting.

The global agricultural sector faces three major challenges in the 21st century:

• it must make good on its promise of poverty alleviation since some 70 percent of the world’s poorest people live in rural sectors and rely on agriculture;
• it must provide global food security in and sustainably meet increased demands from a growing population, changing dietary preferences and a growing reliance on agricultural feedstocks for energy production;
• it must adapt to climate change and, where possible, play a role in climate change mitigation.

There is a risk that these three challenges will be addressed separately, which would reduce their chances of success. Focusing on the climate change challenge alone, for example, could have negative impacts for food security and poverty alleviation, which in turn would weaken efforts to curb climate change. The world’s population will neither be able to contribute to or benefit from climate change mitigation unless it enjoys food security. Food security, particularly for the world’s poorest populations, and poverty alleviation requires greater investment in the agricultural sectors of developing countries. Such investment is hindered in part due to a distorted agricultural trade regime, which is still subject to high levels of subsidies, tariff and non-tariff barriers, and care must be taken not to create disproportionate or unjustified trade barriers under the guise of addressing climate change.

Recognizing the need to combat these major challenges in a coordinated manner, ICTSD and IPC propose to create an interdisciplinary platform of climate change, agricultural and trade experts to promote increased policy coherence, to ensure effective climate change mitigation and adaptation, food security and a more open and equitable global food system.

This side event in Bonn was part of this initiative. Its objective was to discuss issues at the interface of climate change, agricultural policy and trade to assist the UNFCCC negotiators understand the linkages to agriculture and trade, and likewise, inform agricultural policy, trade policy experts and stakeholders about the policy inter-linkages between these three fields.

This side event was webcasted by the UNFCCC Secretariat. See: http://unfccc.meta-fusion.com/kongresse/090329_AWG_Bonn/templ/ply_page.php?id_kongresssession=1642&player_mode=isdn_real

The global agricultural sector faces three major challenges in the 21st century:

• it must make good on its promise of poverty alleviation since some 70 percent of the world’s poorest people live in rural sectors and rely on agriculture;
• it must provide global food security in and sustainably meet increased demands from a growing population, changing dietary preferences and a growing reliance on agricultural feedstocks for energy production;
• it must adapt to climate change and, where possible, play a role in climate change mitigation.

There is a risk that these three challenges will be addressed separately, which would reduce their chances of success. Focusing on the climate change challenge alone, for example, could have negative impacts for food security and poverty alleviation, which in turn would weaken efforts to curb climate change. The world’s population will neither be able to contribute to or benefit from climate change mitigation unless it enjoys food security. Food security, particularly for the world’s poorest populations, and poverty alleviation requires greater investment in the agricultural sectors of developing countries. Such investment is hindered in part due to a distorted agricultural trade regime, which is still subject to high levels of subsidies, tariff and non-tariff barriers, and care must be taken not to create disproportionate or unjustified trade barriers under the guise of addressing climate change.

Recognizing the need to combat these major challenges in a coordinated manner, ICTSD and IPC propose to create an interdisciplinary platform of climate change, agricultural and trade experts to promote increased policy coherence, to ensure effective climate change mitigation and adaptation, food security and a more open and equitable global food system.

This 5 April dialogue in Bonn was part of this initiative. Its objective was to discuss issues at the interface of climate change, agricultural policy and trade to assist the UNFCCC negotiators understand the linkages to agriculture and trade, and likewise, inform agricultural policy, trade policy experts and stakeholders about the policy inter-linkages between these three fields. The dialogue also sought to outline priorities for research and analysis.