On 29 September 2022 (11:30 - 12:45 CET), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), ETH Zurich, Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), the Yield Lab Institute and the Global Trade Alert are organizing one of the sessions of the WTO Public Forum 2022 in person from 11:30 to 12:45 (CET). This session aims to contribute to the achievement of SDG 12, “responsible consumption and production”. The target audience include policy makers, value chain operators, think tanks and NGOs. In the global efforts for post-pandemic recovery and a low-carbon future, governments, business players and civil society lack the information needed for effective decisions and actions.
To turn ambition for a sustainable and inclusive recovery into concrete action, decision-makers must obtain and process data beyond their usual domains in a systematic manner. With transparency over the connection between supply chains and environmental impacts, governments can know which goods, services and knowledge are needed for the recovery, or how to facilitate access to them. Similarly, for businesses to adapt to a low-carbon future, they must understand the risks associated with the three planetary crises and trade trends for green action. This session will translate the needs of stakeholders into data science questions for digitally-enabled business ecosystems and transparency mechanism design. This will elaborate user needs for connecting environmental monitoring, value chain traceability and economic policy transparency in information flows for climate, nature and trade governance, to be followed by practical solutions in the form of use case demonstrations of data systems, business feasibility analysis and policy recommendations.
