International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) is pleased to welcome you to a public event in Geneva on the Green Goods Initiative. The purpose of the dialogue is to raise awareness among the trade constituency in Geneva and beyond about the Green Goods Initiative, and its potential to effectively address climate change by prioritising clean energy technologies and other climate-friendly goods. The event will include a cross section of voices from business, academia, and government, in an open and constructive conversation, in support of the upcoming trade negotiation. The Dialogue will be informed by the extensive work undertaken by ICTSD in the area of environmental goods and services (EGS) and Sustainable Energy Trade Initiatives (SETI). To view this work, visit our website.
Date: 8 July 2014
Venue: World Trade Organization, Room S3, Geneva, Switzerland
Time: 11.00-15.30 including a light sandwich lunch.
Registration: There are a limited number of places available for this event. You can find registration details and further information here. If you have further questions, please contact Ms Sonja Hawkins at shawkins @ ictsd.ch
Background
In January 2014, a group of 14 countries made an announcement in Davos that they intended to negotiate a trade agreement on “green goods.” The mandate is about eliminating bound import tariffs on environmental goods, building on a list of 54 environmental goods agreed upon by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) a few of years ago. The upcoming agreement is intended to grant a “most-favoured nation-treatment,” meaning that the tariff concessions achieved will be extended to all members of the WTO, irrespective of whether they are part of the Green Goods Initiative.
In their statement, the countries refer to a “future oriented agreement able to address other issues in the sector and to respond to changes in technologies in the years to come.” This has been interpreted by experts and commentators to constitute an opening towards eventually addressing other significant barriers to trade. This could include for example restrictions to trade in services but also subsidies, standards or local content requirements. Whereas the announcement refers to environmental goods, there is an emphasis in the statement on climate change. Negotiating a trade agreement which specifically addresses barriers to trade in the area of climate friendly technologies is likely one of the most tangible, positive contributions which trade policy can make to climate action. However, in order for the agreement to become relevant for climate action, there is a need to identify the relevant goods to be added to the list of goods for reform. This would concern clean energy-and energy efficiency, as reducing emissions form energy use is key for an effective mitigation.
The climate change community can play an important role in informing trade negotiators about key technology needs for climate action, and by supporting the negotiation so that it can make a timely delivery to the upcoming, decisive COPs 20 and 21.
