Addressing climate change and energy security requires massive and rapid deployment of more efficient, cleaner technologies that promote clean growth and economic gain. Carefully crafted trade policies could contribute to a rapid diffusion and transfer of clean technologies around the world and provide new incentives for innovation and investment in climate-friendly technologies.
Through targeted research, analysis, and policy dialogues, ICTSD’s Global Platform on Climate Change, Trade, and Sustainable Energy (the Global Platform) provides options for liberalizing trade in environmental goods and services that effectively contribute to sound environmental management while preserving developing countries’ ability to promote industry and economic development. The project has identified and classified key climate-friendly environmental goods.
In this regard, the Global Platform launched a mapping exercise of commercially available technologies and goods as well as those undergoing R&D (with a strong prospect of commercialization in a five- to 10-year time horizon) in three sectors: renewable energy supply, buildings, and transport. Once peer reviewed by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change lead experts, these mapping studies set the stage for customs classification and a subsequent detailed analysis of their market drivers, trade flows, and trade barriers.
To clarify the role of trade in the dissemination of climate-friendly technologies, the Global Platform draws from the expertise of trade and environmental specialists. Experts from such institutions as the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands; the Energy and Resources Institute in India; the Energy Research Institute in China; the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development all contribute to this ongoing research on climate-friendly technologies.
Research and Analysis:
Trade Flows, Barriers and Market Drivers in Renewable Energy Supply Goods: The Need to Level the Playing Field, by Veena Jha, ICTSD Programme on Trade and Environment, Issue Paper No. 10, December 2009
The Liberalization of Environmental Goods and Services: Issues for Small Developing Countries, ICTSD Programme on Trade and Environment, Information Note No. 14, October 2009
Mapping Climate Mitigation Technologies and Associated Goods within the Buildings Sector, by Anandajit Goswami, Mitali Dasgupta and Nitya Nanda, ICTSD Programme on Trade and Environment, 2009
Mapping Climate Mitigation Technologies and Associated Goods within the Renewable Energy Supply Sector, by Paul Lako, ICTSD Programme on Trade and Environment, 2008
HS Codes and the Residential and Commercial Buildings Sector, by Izaak Wind, ICTSD Programme on Trade and Environment, 2009
HS Codes and the Renewable Energy Sector, by Izaak Wind, ICTSD Programme on Trade and Environment, 2008
Environmental Priorities and Trade Policy for Environmental Goods: A Reality Check, by Veena Jha, ICTSD Trade and Environment Series, Issue Paper No. 7, September 2008
Liberalization of Trade in Environmental Goods for Climate Change Mitigation: The Sustainable Development Context, by ICTSD, Background Paper to the Trade and Climate Change Seminar, 18-10 June 2008 in Copenhagen, Denmark, August 2008
Harmonizing Energy Efficiency Requirements (forthcoming)
Policy Dialogues:
UNFCCC Side Event on “Trade Liberalisation, Market Drivers and Technology Diffusion: A Look at the Renewable Energy and Buildings Sector”, side event alongside the UNFCCC COP 15 negotiations, 8 December 2009, Bella Center room 7, Copenhagen, Denmark
Roundtable on “Clean Energy Generation and Lean Energy Use: Interweaving Trade and Regulatory Frameworks”, at the ICTSD Trade and Climate Change Day alongside the UNFCCC COP 15 negotiations, 15 December 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark
Trade and Climate Change in Emerging Economies: The Competitiveness, Technology, and Intellectual Property Rights Dimension, Informal Dialogue, co-organised with Research and Information Systems (RIS), 30 March 2010, New Delhi, India
Trade in Energy-Efficient Products: Implications for Environmental Goods Negotiations, Informal Roundtable, co-organised with the Government of Japan, 22 September, Geneva, Switzerland
Mapping Goods, Trade Flows and Trade Barriers in the Renewable Energy Supply Sector, Informal Roundtable, 24 April 2009, Geneva, Switzerland
Diffusion of Climate Change Friendly Technologies: The Potential of Trade Policies in the Transition towards a Green Economy, side event at the UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum 2009, 16 February 2009, Nairobi, Kenya
Climate Change Mitigation Technologies in the Energy Supply and Buildings Sectors, co-organised with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) and the Energy, and the Resources Institute (TERI), side event alongside the UNFCCC COP 14, 2 December 2008, Poznan, Poland
Informal Dialogue to Support LDCs Engagement in EGS Negotiations at the WTO, 21 October 2008, Geneva, Switzerland
Sustainable Development Opportunities and Challenges of Trade in Energy Services in the WTO and Beyond, 20 April 2007, Geneva, Switzerland