Geneva, 6 October 2015 - UNEP was invited by the WTO Secretariat to present its work in the field of organic agriculture at the Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE) regular members' session. The UNEP presentation centered around the GE-TOP South Africa on assessing sustainable trade opportunities arising from a shift to organic farming in the agriculture sector, and the Green Economy benefits arising from this and other UNEP projects on organic agriculture, including in East Africa and Eastern Europe. In organic agriculture, around 65% of production occurs in developing countries, while developed countries account for 90% of consumption – this poses an important role for international trade as enabler and bridge between producer and consumer markets. UNEP presentation was flanked by similar presentations delivered by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the International Trade Centre (ITC), and was well received by members who widely commended the opportunities that arise from organic agriculture, including for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) producers in developing countries and for enhanced trade in environmentally preferable produce.
The CTE meeting further included various updates on some of the negotiations and drafting processes that will fundamentally shape the future of trade and environment, as well as their nexus. These included presentations on the current state of the climate change negotiations towards the COP-21 in Paris (by UNFCCC), the post-2015 development agenda (by UNDESA), and a status update on EGA negotiations (by the Australian delegation).
