Rainbow Warrior sails into Doha to challenge the WTO to use its 4th Ministerial Conference to force the US to commit to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
Greenpeace activists inside the meeting unfurled banners calling
for a fundamental transformation of trade rules.
The meeting has concluded with a declaration that falls short of
ambitions declared at the start of negotiations and also
disappoints hopes for protection of communities and the
environment.
"This meeting has failed to produce a vision for sustainable
development and the protection of the environment" said Greenpeace
International Political Director Remi Parmentier, speaking from the
meeting site.
"The WTO has two crises of confidence: Opposition from the
outside world to this trade liberalisation agenda, and an internal
crisis of dissent among WTO member countries."
Parmentier called for an international conference to revise the
relationship between the WTO, International Monetary Fund, World
Bank and environmental protection.
This meeting ran into overtime and concluded only in the last
possible hours of discussion. The agreement on environment offers
very little progress in defending environmental protections against
trade concerns.
"Every step of progress on the environment is countered by
contradictory language or harmful measures" said Greenpeace
Canada campaigns director Jo Dufay, on board the Rainbow
Warrior.
"They have agreed to study the relationship between trade rules
and the environment, but also said that WTO rules won't change."
Dufay was in Doha for the trade meeting.
The agreement on areas for further trade liberalisation was
finalised today after a grueling round-the-clock negotiating
session. Apart from the environment, major differences on
investment, 'dumping', agriculture and market access for textiles
stalled the talks for days. Developing nations claimed their needs
had not been addressed by the rich countries, and that unfair
pressure was being exerted.
In the end, liberalisation of investment measures was not
resolved, with agreement only that this may undergo further
negotiations at the next Ministerial meeting, two years from
now.
Earlier agreement on drug patent issues offers some relief to
earlier WTO agreements.
"The whole issue of medicines and the patenting of life should
never have been subject to horse-trading in the first place,"
Parmentier commented.
"They are have come up with a balance of misery, where everyone
is unhappy, especially developing nations. This is no way to run
the world," Dufay concluded.
For more information about Greenpeace in Doha, visit our archived site.