- Regulatory frameworks that support green industries and incorporate sustainable development considerations in national development plans and export promotion strategies.
- Resource and energy efficient production methods, so as to ensure long-term competitiveness in international markets.
- Regional and multilateral fora that can help to liberalize trade in environmental goods and services, remove environmentally harmful subsidies, and provide opportunities for collective action to address global environmental and social challenges.
Realizing sustainable trade opportunities can imply that suppliers have to comply with an increasing number of environmental and social requirements. In the lead-up to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), several countries expressed concerns about such difficulties to access export markets due to complex regulatory regimes. Furthermore, achieving compliance can be expensive, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises.
For these reasons, public and private support is necessary to help businesses green their production and supply chains. In addition, regulatory cooperation, technical and financial assistance and capacity building, will be critical if developing countries are to harness new green trade opportunities.
UNEP, under the Green Economy and Trade Opportunities Project (GE-TOP), seeks to identify policies and measures to help developing countries overcome challenges and respond to export demand for sustainable goods and services.
Following this report, which is the first key output under GE-TOP, UNEP is moving to the second phase of GE-TOP. In response to the calls made at Rio+20 for more action by the international community, UNEP will provide sector-specific assistance to developing countries through inclusive stakeholder processes to seize opportunities arising from the transition to a green economy.
The report was made possible through ongoing cooperation with the European Commission (EC). The EC is supporting the implementation of UNEP’s Programme of Work through a strategic cooperation agreement with the Directorate-General for the Environment, under the Thematic Programme for Sustainable Management of Natural Resources including Energy (ENRTP).
Click here to read/download the Full Report.
Source: UNEP.
