Coming out against the provision of trade restrictions in the Montreal Protocol to ensure its compliance, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Thursday this would nullify gains for developing countries and 'adversely impact' economic growth and poverty alleviation efforts.
"Let us not seek trade advantages through the instrument of environmental treaties," he emphasised while addressing a meeting here of parties to the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the Ozone layer.
The prime minister said while fulfillment of commitments in multilateral environmental agreements by all parties must certainly be ensured, the use of trade restrictions was 'not advisable'.
"Such restrictions may adversely impact economic growth and poverty alleviation efforts. We need to be more creative and less adversarial in our approach to compliance," he told the delegates from 189 countries.
He contended that gains for developing countries accomplished after strenuous negotiations in the WTO regime would be negated if trade advantages were sought.
"Let us not trim the flow of multilateral and bilateral resources for poverty alleviation to accomplish unrelated environmental objectives," he said.
On the contrary, there was need to ensure that the financial and technology resources needed to accomplish the objectives were administered efficiently through dedicated mechanisms, he said.
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