The Importance Of Agriculture In Sustainable Development

Register to read the introduction… Indeed, from the perspective of sustainable development some of the most important decisions that may flow from the negotiations that were launched in Doha are to be found in sections that do not explicitly mention environment, development, or sustainable development. Agriculture. Agriculture will be at the heart of the post-Doha negotiations, and sustainable development will be at the heart of the agriculture negotiations. It is hard to overstate the importance of agriculture for sustainable development. Agriculture involves the intentional modification of the natural environment to favor certain outputs while suppressing all competitors. The result is massive modification of the environment. At the same time, poverty is concentrated worldwide in the rural environment so that changes in agricultural production can have major consequences for the alleviation of poverty—or lack of it. Moreover many countries have been experiencing high levels of migration from rural into urban areas with major implications for sustainable development. It is by now well established that subsidies in OECD countries, and export subsidies in particular, contribute to the problems many developing countries experience in the area of agriculture. Finally several OECD countries have already indicated that they wish to discuss “non-agricultural issues” in the rural environment, environment and community development in particular. It is fairly obvious that all of these issues are of significant concern to China. It is therefore important to ensure that the preparation of negotiations within China takes all of these matters into account properly. …show more content…
There is also a need to understand and analyze the interface between the WTO rules and trade measures taken pursuant to multilateral environmental agreements and their sustainable development aspects; to understand the work being done by the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment in the past; and to be aware of the positions from other countries including major developed countries and developing countries and carefully analyze their proposals and justifications. These efforts will help decision-makers to formulate the strategies for negotiations. It has increasingly been recognized that trade is a necessary means of implementing sustainable development. China has placed environment and sustainable development as an important matter on its agenda. As the fastest growing economy and the largest developing country in the world, China supports a fair, equitable and rational international economic system that promotes sustainable development. China is still a country with a large population living under the poverty line. The overall objective for the WTO negotiations should be to obtain a more open, equitable and reciprocal global market in goods and services. Effort should be made to ensure that negotiations address “sustainable development” issues rather than mere “environment,” making sure that the needs for development in developing countries including China are given adequate consideration and the principle of common and differentiated responsibility with respect to environmental protection is reflected, and ensuring the outcomes of the negotiations are forward-looking and balanced, and support development in developing countries. There is also a need to stress that