25 April 2008: The twelfth UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XII), which took place from 20-25 April 2008, in Accra, Ghana, adopted a ministerial Accra Declaration and an Accra Accord, identifying challenges and opportunities of globalization for development and a four-year work plan. The conference, which was attended by approximately 4000 delegates, including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, considered sustainable development, poverty reduction and related global policies. The conclusions highlighted the challenges facing many developing countries in relation to global economic integration, and set out an agenda for progress in economic and social development. Outcomes included a pledge by member states to resist protectionism, particularly against goods and services from developing countries. The Accra Declaration notes that climate change currently poses a significant challenge, especially to the poor, who are least equipped to adapt. It urges urgent action to address adaptation and mitigation in accordance with the provisions and principles of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, bearing in mind the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, and taking into account social and economic conditions and other relevant factors. It further states that adequate financing and technology will be critical to help developing countries to rise to this challenge and that the trade and development aspects of climate change are important for development prospects of developing countries, and should be adequately taken into account in mitigation and adaptation strategies.

The draft Accra Accord states that the UNFCCC is the appropriate forum for negotiating issues related to the reduction of global warming and notes that climate change response measures can have trade and development implications, in particular for developing countries, especially LDCs, small island developing States and low-lying coastal States. Regarding UNCTAD’s climate change work, the draft Accord states that UNCTAD, within its mandate and without duplicating the ongoing work of other organizations, should consider climate change in its ongoing work of assisting developing countries with trade- and investment-related issues in development strategies.



Links to further information
Accra Declaration: http://www.unctad.org/en/docs//tdl413_en.pdf
Draft Accra Accord: http://www.unctad.org/en/docs//tdl414_en.pdf
UNCTAD XII website
Conference documents
Pre-UNCTAD XII event