Reuters AlertNet Lite - Trade deal flop could hurt climate efforts-Lamy

Reuters AlertNet Full site

NEWSDESK

Trade deal flop could hurt climate efforts-Lamy

15 May 2007 17:21:53 GMT
Source: Reuters

PARIS, May 15 (Reuters) - Failure to strike a global trade deal could have consequences beyond the world of commerce and make it harder to tackle climate change, the head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) said on Tuesday.

"If there were to be a failure, it would be a serious blow to the multilateral ... system and in coming years we will need that system more," WTO Director General Pascal Lamy told a seminar on trade in Paris.

"I don't think it will be possible to deal on climate change issues, which are 10 times more complicated, if it is not through multilateral negotiation," he said.

The United States, Europe and some of the world's big developing economies remain divided on how best to tackle global warming, with many countries resisting emission cuts targets.

The WTO's 150 member countries are trying to overcome deep differences, mainly on farm trade, to save talks that were launched more than five years ago to boost the global economy and help fight poverty.

Lamy said the negotiations were now making progress again after a suspension last year, but not quickly enough. "The negotiation is not deadlocked any more. It's moving, maybe not at the speed we would all love it to, but it's moving," he said.

Trade ministers from around 20 countries gathered in Paris for discussions on Tuesday and Wednesday on how to move ahead with the negotiations. On Thursday and Friday, the United States, European Union, India and Brazil -- the core four members of the WTO -- are due to meet in Brussels.

The so-called G4 group is aiming for a full WTO deal by the end of this year, after which negotiations risk being sidelined by campaigning for the U.S. presidential election and several further years of delays, trade officials say.

AlertNet news is provided by

Email this article Send comments

Topics

• Climate and Weather

MORE >>

Countries

Small country map
© 2004 Europa Technologies Ltd.

Reset map

• Brazil profile
· View map

• India profile
· View map

MORE >>

NGO latest

• CWS situation report: Indonesia (central Sulawesi) flooding
CWS

• Catholic Relief Services Urges Congress to Make Food Aid More Effective
CRS - USA

• The UMCOR Hotline for May 08, 2007
UMCOR - USA

• Somalia: ICRC boosts vital aid for hundreds of thousands of conflict victims
ICRC - Switzerland

• ACT Appeal: Cyclone Relief, Madagascar
ACT - Switzerland

MORE >>

Latest news

• Trade deal flop could hurt climate efforts-Lamy

• US fights for Wolfowitz to stay at World Bank

• Protest halts major Nigerian oil pipeline

• Separatists kill 6 labourers in India's Assam state

• Israel seeks changes to stalled U.S. timetable

MORE >>

Last updated:Tue May 15 17:24:21 2007