The Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference 10 – 14 September 2003

Introduction

The Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference will be held in Cancún, Mexico from 10 to 14 September 2003. The main task will be to take stock of progress in negotiations and other work under the Doha Development Agenda. The Equator Initiative is pleased to be engaging with communities and high level delegates at the 18th Global Biodiversity Forum (5-7 September 2003) and the Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference (10-14 September 2003), to be held in Cancun, Mexico. Through active involvement in the GBF, the Equator Initiative partnership will be working to bridge the trade/environment divide by bringing the lessons from successful local experience to the international stage. Building on existing work on biodiversity and poverty, biodiversity and business, and biodiversity and entrepreneurship, the Equator Initiative is advocating in Cancun for sustainable solutions to poverty challenges that also serve to conserve biological diversity. Since the Fifth Ministerial Conference represents a key opportunity to assess and influence international attitudes to trade and biodiversity issues, the Equator Initiative will be working to ensure that local voices are represented at this important global forum.

The WTO meeting in Cancun builds on the November 2001 Doha Declaration of the Fourth Ministerial Conference, held in Doha, Qatar. This declaration provides a mandate to engage in negotiations on a range of subjects related to international trade and trade agreements. The Ministerial Conference will cover a wide range of issues, but those of particular interest to the Equator Initiative include those on Trade and the Environment, Agriculture, Least Developed Countries, and Technical Cooperation and Capacity Building. The purpose of the Fifth Ministerial Conference will be to review progress in each of these areas.

The Equator Initiative will be involved in a number of events in Cancun. Luis Javier Montero, an Equator Initiative Programme Assistant based in Costa Rica, will travel to the meeting and report on issues and outcomes related to biodiversity and poverty. He will also be attending a number of critical workshops with representatives of outstanding community initiatives dedicated to poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation in the tropics. Readers are invited to follow the Equator Initiative’s activities in Mexico online via the Daily Journal and Photo Diary.