Trade law is embodied in regional trade agreements and in the World Trade Organisation (WTO); environmental law is embodied as national and subnational regulations, in regional agreements, and in various multilateral environmental agreements - many of them relying on trade measures as well. Against this complex background, to prevent the rise of fundamental conflicts, especially with regard to vital needs and interests of developing countries, questions like the following need urgently to be answered:

• What institutions might help ensure that trade and environmental policies are mutually supportive?
• Where and how should disputes be settled?
• Should there be environmental impact assessment of trade agreements and trade policies? - And also:
• What role should civil society and the public have on these issues?

"The need to ensure that trade and environment policies are mutually supportive is more pressing today than ever before. However, successful integration of these policies can only be achieved through a constructive dialogue based on far broader awareness and understanding of the complex interlinkages between trade and our environment", says Klaus Töpfer, the Executive Director of UNEP.
You are kindly invited to share his initiative and to attend our forum for an open discussion.

• Prof. Klaus Töpfer, UNEP, Nairobi;
• Charles Arden-Clarke, UNEP, Geneva;
• RenÚ Vossenaar, UNCTAD, Geneva;
• Bernard Kuiten and a representative of the Trade and Environment Division, WTO, Geneva;
• Prof. Paul P. Streeten, World Development (Editor), Spencertown N.Y.;
• Prof. Udo E. Simonis, Science Centre Berlin;
• Beatrice Chaytor, FIELD - Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development, London;
• Peter Fuchs, WEED - World Economy, Ecology & Development, Bonn;
• Aimee Gonzales, WWF International, Bruxelles; Mark Halle, IISD - International Institute for Sustainable Development, Geneva;
• Dr. Carsten Helm, University of Magdeburg;
• Pradeep S. Mehta, CUTS - Consumer Unity & Trust Society, Jaipur, India;
• Ricardo Melendez Ortiz, ICTSD - International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, Geneva;
• Dr. Martin Rocholl, Friends of the Earth Europe, Bruxelles;
• Kristina Steenbock, Greenpeace, Berlin;
• Christine von Weizsäcker, Protestant Churches of Germany, Bonn

Dr. Andreas Dally
Evangelische Akademie Loccum
Postfach 21 58
D-31545 Rehburg-Loccum
Germany
tel: ## 49 - 57 66 / 81-1 08
secretariat: ## 49 - 57 66 / 81-11 6 (Mrs. Schwarz)
fax: ## 49 - 57 66 / 81-9 00
e-mail:Andreas.Dally@evlka.de