The ‘Davos of Central and Eastern Europe’ discuss Fair Trade beyond 2015
The 23rd edition of the Economic Forum was held in the first week of September in Krynica (Poland), also known as the ‘Davos of Central and Eastern Europe’.
For the very first time, Fair Trade appeared on the Forum’s official programme. A panel session “Fair Trade in the future UN Sustainable Development Goals Beyond 2015: what’s the role for companies and governments?” was held on 4 September 2013, organised by the World Fair Trade Organization-Europe, in cooperation with the Polish Fair Trade Association and the Fair Trade Advocacy Office.
The panellists were Ulrike Lunacek (Member of the European Parliament from Austria and Vice President of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament), Pawel Zalewski (Member of the European Parliament from Poland [EPP] and member of the EP International Trade Committee), Xinquan Tu (Deputy Director of the China Institute for WTO Studies, University of International Business and Economics), Marion Lieser (Executive Director of Oxfam Germany), Giorgio Dal Fiume (President of the World Fair Trade Organization-Europe) and Bernhard Herold (Member of the Board of Directors of Fairtrade International). The panel was moderated by Sergi Corbalán (Executive Director of the Fair Trade Advocacy Office).
The discussion, which was organised in the context of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly (New York, 23-27 September 2013) on the future Sustainable Development Goals Post-2015, served to exchange views on Fair Trade and on what companies, local authorities and governments can do at their level to promote trade that upholds high sustainable development standards.
The panel also served to present the results of the “Fair Trade beyond 2015” declaration. This campaign, calling on world leaders to support Fair Trade and Trade Justice in the sustainable development framework beyond 2015, is so far supported by more than 150 mayors, 120 local leaders, 250 Civil Society Organisations from 32 countries around the world.
More information:
On the Economic Forum www.forum-ekonomiczne.pl
On Fair Trade www.fairtrade-advocacy.devel6.3a.pl/about-fair-trade
On the Fair Trade beyond 2015 declaration www.fairtrade-advocacy.devel6.3a.pl/beyond2015