In the light of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the international regulatory and political framework for trade in environmentally sound technologies is being reshaped. Environmentally sound technologies (or clean technologies) protect the environment, are less polluting, use all resources more sustainably, recycle more and handle waste in an environmentally friendly way.
Trade can scale up clean technologies by opening markets and stimulating innovation. This brings down their cost through economies of scale, thereby making clean technologies more accessible to less developed countries. Connecting to global markets and clean technology value chains can help countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, as depicted in the illustration below. For information about the UNEP Environment & Trade Hub's past work on environmentally sound technologies, please download the brochure here.
Trade and Climate Change
UN Environment Programme aims to assist policymakers by promoting a greater understanding of the interlinkages between trade and climate change and how they can be mutually supportive. For example, the UNEP-WTO report Trade and Climate Change explains the connections between trade and climate change. It examines the science of climate change and its economic aspects, multilateral efforts to tackle climate change, and national climate change policies and their effect on trade. The Report shows that trade intersects with climate change in many ways. In part, this is due to the innumerable implications that climate change may have, both in terms of its potential impacts and in terms of the profound regulatory and
Trade in Environmentally Sound Technologies – the Perspective of Developing Countries
UNEP’s report on Trade in Environmentally Sound Technologies (ESTs) reveals significant potential for developing countries to benefit from enhanced trade, development and deployment of renewable energy technologies and other environmental goods and services. The project explores the implication of liberalization of trade in ESTs in the context of international and regional negotiations on trade in environmental goods and services. It can assist developing countries in understanding and assessing related opportunities, benefits and challenges. Supported by the European Commission, this project was produced in conjunction with number of regional and international partners, including Technical University of Denmark, University of Malaya, African Centre for Technology Studies, University of Oxford, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and leading experts in the field of trade, technology, and innovation. For more information, click here.
Link to resources of Trade in Environmentally Sound Technologies
