The OAS at the Forefront of the Post-2015 Debate on Sustainable Development
“Countries must get rid of the duality with which they approach trade
and the environment. The only way forward is sustainable
development” declared Fernando Ocampo Sanchez, Vice-Minister of
Foreign Trade of Costa Rica when he addressed a group of policy
makers and representatives from international organizations gathered
to discuss “Sustainability at the Intersection of Trade, Environment
and Development” at UN Headquarters in New York City on February 5,
2014.
The meeting was held as a side event of the eighth session of the
Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and
contributed to the discussions on how to mainstream sustainable
trade in biodiversity within the process leading to the United
Nations post-2015 development agenda. The event was jointly
organized by the OAS-SEDI Department of Sustainable Development
(DSD), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD) and the Secretariat of the Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
“Countries will industrialize, some sooner than others. The millions
of people that are climbing out of poverty will demand electricity,
food and transportation and they will greatly contribute to climate
change unless we get smart, and fast. I hope we can work together to
continue to make “green” tradable and profitable” urged
Vice-Minister Ocampo, representing one of the world’s richest
countries in biodiversity. The meeting was chaired by Ambassador
Gustavo Meza-Cuadra, Permanent Representative of Peru to the United
Nations who attested to his country’s success in sustainably using
wild flora and fauna and other biodiversity goods and services “Peru
is already exporting more that 2 million USD on selected
biodiversity-based products generated by 69 SMEs working in more
than 50’000 hectares of managed land. While these amounts may sound
small to many, they have a huge impact at the local level employing
more than 3,500 producers.”
Juan
Carlos Vasquez from the CITES Secretariat also cited the Peruvian
experience, highlighting the story of the Andean vicuña - a rare
mountain mammal related to the llama and alpaca. “In the 1960s,
vicuñas had been hunted to near extinction before being protected
under CITES in 1975. By 1987, some populations had recovered so
significantly that trade in vicuña wool was permitted. By 2012, the
number of vicuñas had increased to over 450,000 so that now the
species is soundly managed and local communities benefit directly
from the trade in highly valuable vicuña wool.”
“Seven billion people consume biodiversity-based products every day
in the form of medicines, food, clothes, furniture, perfumes and
luxury goods. With globalization, the consumption of these products
is growing at an unprecedented rate, placing sustainability at the
centre of the debate” said Mr. Vasquez, adding that “this has to be
made visible and understandable to the general public and
policymakers.”
“Sustainable use and environmental conservation could also be the
basis for the enjoyment of other basic rights such as the right to a
healthy environment, social justice, economic welfare and rule of
law” said Claudia de Windt from the OAS-SEDI-DSD.
The discussion is timely as member states and the international
community debate on what the new global development agenda will look
like. “The three pillars of sustainable development – economic
development, social development and environmental protection – could
not be unbundled and should, on the contrary, be coherently
integrated in the post-2015 development agenda” said Mr. Bonapas
Onguglo from the Trade, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable
Development Branch at UNCTAD.
The OAS-SEDI is committed to continue supporting the process of
defining the post-2015 development agenda in order to incorporate
the needs and priorities of the Americas. .
Dialogue in Action: Effectively advancing the Sustainable development agenda
This event is part of an OAS-SEDI-DSD strategic
alliance with the CITES* Secretariat and UNCTAD. In addition and
in support of policy makers and other stakeholders from the
region, the OAS and the CITES Secretariat will publish a toolkit
to enhance the positive impact of implementing CITES on peoples
livelihoods. These efforts are part of the “Capacity building
program of country officials” funded by the Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA), which supports the
sustainable use of natural resources in tradable goods and
services.
*Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) is an international
agreement between governments that aims to ensure that
international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does
not threaten their survival.
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