'Poverty Is the Most Toxic Element'

International trade and the environment are closely related, evidenced by rich countries' high subsidies for agriculture, says Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, in an exclusive dialogue with Tierramérica.

MEXICO CITY - International trade should contribute to development and the elimination of poverty, and the upcoming World Trade Organization ministerial conference should express a spirit of cooperation between industrialized and developing countries, says Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

Trade and the environment are profoundly linked, as proved by the perverse distortions caused by the high subsidies rich countries grant agriculture and fisheries, Toepfer said in a dialogue with Tierramérica.

At the helm of the UNEP since 1998, Toepfer previously enjoyed an extensive academic and political career in his native Germany, where he served as federal minister of environment, nature conservation and nuclear safety from 1987 to 1994.

- The environment is among the key issues at the WTO. What can be achieved at the fifth ministerial conference to be held in the Mexican resort city of Cancun in September?
- The most toxic element for the environment is poverty. Our major objective with regard to the WTO is for trade to serve as a way to achieve development and to eliminate poverty. There is a very specific relationship between the environment and trade. If we look at the situation of subsidies in the developed countries, particularly in the agricultural and fishing sector, we can see that it turns into a somewhat perverse relationship. One of the first initiatives would be to reduce or eliminate them. We also note the profound relationship between trade and the various multilateral environmental agreements, for example, those for protecting the ozone layer or about toxic waste, or the agreements related to climate change. We must be realistic. We know that all countries must contribute, developed and developing countries alike, in order to end poverty and to ensure that trade is a positive factor. That would be a realistic form of optimism.

- What significance does Europe's decision to open its markets to transgenic products have?
- The United Nations did not want to intervene in the dispute between the United States and the European Union about genetically modified organisms. But I am convinced that we made a big contribution to the matter by negotiating the Cartagena Protocol, which enters into force in September and will serve to protect biodiversity and specifically address the safe management of genetically modified organisms.

- Do you think the recent heat wave in Europe could be related to global warming?
- Climate change is not some kind of weather forecast, it is something we are already experiencing. It is not a thing of the future. We have sufficient scientific data on indicators that climate change is already here. It is difficult to establish a linear relationship between an extreme climate phenomenon and climate change. But these phenomena are occurring with increasing frequency, and the heat wave in Europe could be related to climate change, as could the floods of last summer. We must take action in two directions: mitigate or reduce greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and find ways to adapt to these changes. The Kyoto Protocol, which seeks to curb greenhouse gas emissions, is of vital importance. We know that the United States has refused to ratify it, and Russia has not yet done so. But President Vladimir Putin has expressed willingness, and the Russian ratification is expected this year.

- What is your perception of the environmental situation in Iraq following the U.S. invasion and military occupation?
- UNEP conducted an evaluation prior to the war, in February and March, regarding the environmental situation in Iraq over the last 20 years. We are talking about a country whose environment has been devastated since the war with Iran, in the 1980s, then came the Gulf War in 1991, in addition to the poor environmental management by the Saddam Hussein government. Today there are three UNEP officials in Baghdad who are preparing an analysis about the impacts of the latest war, a field study that will compare them with the previously evaluated areas. We hope to conduct a study as soon as possible about the environmental impacts of the weapons used in the war.

* Felipe Jaime Vázquez is a Tierramérica contributor.