DELANO FRANKLYN, Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, has said that the issue of the environment must not be seen as a tool to be used by the powerful to erect barriers to trade which disproportionately hurt the weak.
According to the Minister, the notion of "equitable global partnerships," in handling the environmental question should be utilised as a means of supporting better trade relationships.
He was speaking at the opening of a two-day regional workshop on Trade and Environment at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Tues-day. The seminar was organised by the Secretariat of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) CARICOM and the Institute for the Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean (INTAL) of the Inter-American Development Bank.
OPPORTUNITY FOR DISCUSSION
The workshop provided an opportunity for discussion on how WTO rules and the work of its committees are relevant to the environment and what the concerns of the region are. It was geared at facilitating more effective participation of Caribbean countries in the regular work of the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment as well as in the related negotiations.
INCREASING IMPORTANCE
Noting the increasing importance of the issue of the environment, its impact on trade and development, and the need to secure the goal of sustainable development, Mr. Franklyn pointed to the resultant improvement of the quality of life of all, especially the poor. This would mean the reduction of global inequalities between rich and poor nations and within nations.
"We in Jamaica strongly support efforts to strengthen global initiatives for the protection of the environment and promote practices that ensure the safety of our food, water and air, and protect animal and plant life thereby enhancing the quality of life on this planet," he said.
