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UN: Greening trade can spur sustainable development
May 8, 2013
UN: Greening trade can spur sustainable development
Sustainable goods and services offer developing countries new commercial opportunities that can help drive sustainable development though the “greening” of global trade, according to a major new UN report.
The new report from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) acknowledges that international trade has played a key role in creating economic growth and helping eradicate poverty. But it also details how increasing trade volumes have put huge stresses on natural resources, land, oceans and biodiversity, while also leading to increased greenhouse gas emissions.
It argues that developing countries, particularly the group of least developed countries, still depend heavily on natural resource-based products and raw materials for their exports. But it also identifies “significant and real opportunities” for developing nations with abundant renewable resources to diversify their economies and position themselves to benefit from growing global demand for green goods and services. Along with agriculture and renewable energy, the report concludes that tourism, forestry, manufacturing and fisheries also offer promising markets for developing countries, which are well-placed to catalyze a move to more sustainable international trade.
“Transitioning to a green economy can facilitate new trade opportunities which in turn will help to make global trade more sustainable,” said Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director.
Read more at BusinessGreen.
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