OSCE PA Annual Session: Climate change, economic regulation and migration management at center of Second Committee resolution

COPENHAGEN, 18 June 2014 – Sustained work towards a new universal climate agreement, regulations to limit the risk of financial crashes and continued attention to the economic impacts of migration are among the recommendations made by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and Environment (Second Committee) in its draft resolution for the PA’s upcoming Annual Session.

The resolution will be debated and may be amended by parliamentarians at the PA’s 23rd Annual Session in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Session, which runs from 28 June to 2 July, will be held under the theme “Helsinki +40: Towards Human Security for All.” 

In its final form, the resolution will be a core element of the Baku Declaration to be adopted at the Annual Session’s conclusion. Nearly 300 MPs will be present to vote on the Declaration, which will contain policy recommendations for the OSCE and its 57 participating States in the fields of political affairs and security, economics, the environment and human rights.

“This resolution urges the OSCE and its participating States to take action on issues that simply cannot wait – from tackling global warming to limiting risk-based financial speculation to working on migration management. I hope that my fellow parliamentarians will send a strong signal through their votes in support of these initiatives,” said Second Committee Rapporteur Roger Williams (MP, United Kingdom).

The Second Committee’s draft resolution expresses regret for the lack of progress achieved at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 19) in November 2013 on reducing CO2 emissions and securing financial help for the countries most affected by climate change. Noting conclusions by international scientists that human activity is almost certainly the dominant cause of global warming, the resolution calls upon OSCE participating States to sustain determined efforts toward a new universal climate agreement ahead of the next UN climate change conference in Peru this December.

Also on the environment, the draft resolution “expresses concern over the use of certain types of energy extraction, particularly hydraulic fracturing or ‘fracking,’ that are known to have an adverse effect on water supplies.”

In its more than two dozen clauses, the draft resolution also calls for increased attention to agricultural practices, urging OSCE participating States to invest more in the science and technology of crop- and animal-production. It also encourages the OSCE to facilitate technology and knowledge transfers to promote the use of best practices.

On the economy, the Second Committee’s draft resolution calls upon states to “adopt regulations that limit risk-based speculation” and “move away from budget cuts” with the aim of encouraging solid, long-term investments and helping restart national economies.

The impact of migration on OSCE countries is also one of the draft resolution’s central themes. The document acknowledges that economic and environmental migration can help migrants improve their lives, as well as boost the economies of the nations that receive them, but notes that “unplanned and excessive movements can cause tension and adversely affect the provision of public services.”

OSCE participating States should work on managing the effects of population-movements to increase the benefits, limit potential negative implications and share both the contribution and burden of migrants more equally, the resolution recommends.

The Baku Declaration will also feature resolutions from the OSCE PA’s Committee on Political Affairs and Security (First Committee) and the Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions (Third Committee), as well as more than a dozen supplementary items.

The full text of all draft resolutions and supplementary items, as well as a draft programme for the Annual Session, are available here.

At the close of the Session, the Assembly will hold elections to choose its President, several Vice-Presidents and committee officers.

The Session will be live-streamed on the OSCE PA homepage, www.oscepa.org.

Follow news from the Session on Twitter using the hashtag #BakuAS.

This is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is comprised of 323 parliamentarians from 56 countries spanning, Europe, Central Asia and North America. The Assembly provides a forum for parliamentary diplomacy, monitors elections, and strengthens international cooperation to uphold commitments on political, security, economic, environmental and human rights issues.