2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003,
2002,
2001,
2000,
1999,
1998,
1997,
1996,
1995,
1994
GLOBAL GREENS DISS DRAFT WORLD TRADE DEAL
13 Nov 2001
DRAFT DECLARATION TRADES AWAY THE ENVIRONMENT
The leaked revised WTO ministerial declaration, drafted and circulated
by the Chair of the Ministerial Conference in Doha at noon time today,
was greeted with horror by Friends of the Earth International (FOEI),
the largest grassroots federation of environmental and social justice
organisations around the world. FOEI fears that if adopted in its present
form, the agreement would:
- perpetuate the WTO's marginalisation of the environment and sustainable
development and continue to undermine the effectiveness of global
environmental treaties (para 6, 31, 32, 33);
- continue to promote subsidised and unsustainable industrial farming
practices and threaten food security and safety (para 13, 14);
- lead to the intensified plunder of the last ancient forests and
other vital ecosystems. Trade liberalisation for natural resources,
especially from developing countries, such as forest products will
increased resource destruction, and will undermine forest conservation
measures (para 16);
- continue to permit the patenting of life forms and the theft of biological and genetic resources,especially from the South (para 19);
- threaten environmental regulations and expose local economies to damaging international corporate pressure through proposals to liberalize investment and competition policies (paras 20-25);
- pose a risk to the environment and damage local communities through the liberalization of trade in environmentally-sensitive services sectors such as water, energy, waste, transport, and tourism (paras 31(i) and 15).
Tony Juniper of Friends of the Earth International said:
“This is another example of very one-sided globalization. The
cause of sustainable development is more urgent than ever, yet the rich
country governments in particular, are determined to press ahead with
yet more environmentally damaging trade liberalization. We don't need
a new trade round nor new issues, we need a review that enables sustainable
development to be reflected in all trade rules.”
Contact details:
Friends of the Earth
26-28 Underwood St.
LONDON
N1 7JQ
Tel: 020 7490 1555
Fax: 020 7490 0881
Web: www.foe.co.uk/feedback.html
