United Nations Environment Programme

Capacity Building Meeting on Environment, Trade and Sustainable Development for the Latin American and Caribbean Region

This meeting was organized to accurately define capacity building needs on the trade, environment and sustainable development policy interface for the LAC region. It aimed to: identify priorities for capacity building activities and develop a long-term capacity building programme on this policy interface for the region; identify a network of regional and sub-regional institutions to assist in undertaking capacity building activities in the region; develop collaboration amongst ministries of environment, trade ministries and Secretariats of Trade and Economic agreements in their trade and environment policy formulation; identify key environmental and sustainable development issues related to the WSSD and WTO Work Programme for the region; and assist with the integration of environmental considerations in bilateral and regional trade negotiations.

The meeting generated strong interest among governments in the region, and was attended by trade and environment officials from 13 LAC countries. In addition, there were representatives from the United States, Canada and the EC. International organizations were also represented in the shape of UNEP, UNCTAD and ECLAC. The meeting also had active participation from regional, economic, trade and environmental cooperation bodies (including CARICOM, CAN, CAF, and the CEC), and other stakeholders including NGOs, academic institutions and research organizations.

The programme of the meeting included presentations from governments and regional organizations on priorities for capacity building on the first day, and working group sessions on issues of potential relevance for the region on the second day. A set of background papers was prepared to inform deliberations in the meeting and include: an over-arching paper on the environment related issues in the Doha Work Programme; a paper on approaches to capacity building, a paper prepared by consultants from the region giving a LAC perspective of the issues on the policy interface, as well as a paper on each of the Working Group topics (Environmental Goods and Services, Intellectual Property and the Environment, Agriculture, and Integrated Assessment). In addition, a stocktaking questionnaire on LAC capacity building needs was sent to governments in the region including those who did not attend the meeting. Responses to this questionnaire have been collated and will be used together with input from the discussions at the meeting to develop key elements for a capacity building programme for the region.

There was broad agreement on the importance of developing a capacity building programme for the region, which:
- takes into account the specific needs of the countries, sub-regions and regions;
- promotes the exchange of experience and knowledge between countries, and the coordination of efforts by multilateral, regional and national institutions; and
- provides the basis for a greater integration of environmental objectives into other sectoral policies.

Environmental goods and services, intellectual property rights and biodiversity; and market access for environmentally friendly products including organic agricultural produce emerged as common capacity building needs for the region. In addition, specific national and sub-regional needs were expressed with regard to small island states, re-orienting small farmers and self-sufficient local economies displaced by trade liberalization, pollution and disposal of large capital items, development and the use of clean technologies.

Participants emphasised the importance of conducting national needs assessments prior to designing capacity building programmes, and involving the private sector in such programmes. They also called for enhanced capacity for trade negotiators to be developed through workshops, new programmes and other training activities at the institutional level. In this regard, some participants felt that in order of priority, capacity building programmes should focus on training, research, and then seminars and workshops.

This package contains the report of the meeting in six sections: separate reports of day 1 and day 2 together with the four rapporteurs reports summarizing the proceedings in each of the Working Groups.

UNEP's next steps involve generating proposals for funding of capacity building activities for the region, with sub-regional and national specificities. These will be developed with close reference to the outputs of this meeting, and in consultation with governments, regional and sub-regional organizations, and other capacity building partners in the LAC region. Developing a full programme of activities for the region will require additional extra-budgetary resources.