The proposal calls for WTO members to agree to eliminate tariffs on 43 separate technologies, identified by the World Bank as being climate-friendly in its recent report, International Trade and Climate Change: Economic, Legal and Institutional Perspectives, including solar panels, wind turbines, containers for liquid and solid waste, and refrigeration equipment.

In addition, the US and the EU will push for the further elimination of tariffs on an additional 153 environmental products. The proposed list of products to be covered by this agreement has been drawn up by the US, the EU, Canada, Japan, Norway, New Zealand, South Korea, Switzerland and Taiwan. Hong Kong and the Mainland businesses may be aware that the WTO adopted a similar approach for the Information Technology Agreement, where around half the WTO membership, accounting for 97% of world trade in IT goods, agreed to eliminate tariffs on products covered by the agreement.

The above mentioned about the World Bank proposing calls for eliminating tariffs on 43 separate technologies, identified by the Bank as being climate-friendly in its recent report, International Trade and Climate Change: Economic, Legal and Institutional Perspectives, including solar panels, wind turbines, containers for liquid and solid waste, and refrigeration equipment. Of late we heard about change of CEO at the IMF but would like to know any online sources featuring the basic difference between the World Bank and the IMF and their functions.

Both IMF and the World Bank were founded in December 1944 in Bretton Woods when the World War II was raging. You are not alone in realizing the basic difference in functions of the two international financial institutions, which are supposed to provide pillars supporting the structure of the world's economic and financial order. Please check here for the IMF article on How Do They Differ for more interesting reading: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/exrp/differ/differ.htm