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BioTrade, Access and Benefit-Sharing in support of the SDGs: Entering a new alliance for economic growth, innovation and biodiversity


16 July 2018
08:15 - 09:45 hrs. 6.30–8 p.m., United Nations Headquarters, Conference Room 9
New York
, United States of America

Open for all participants attending the 2018 HLPF This roundtable event will provide a critical analysis on how trade, and BioTrade and the ABS Mechanism under the Nagoya Protocol, can be incentives for the achievement of several SDGs, especially SDG 15 by promoting benefit sharing, and sustainable trade and livelihoods with the ultimate objective of reducing biodiversity loss. Several developing and least developed countries have identified biological and genetic resources as an economic asset and embarked on transforming their production and export-base towards biodiversity friendly sectors, products, and services. Many of them have also ratified and started implementation of the Nagoya Protocol. This contributes not only to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity but also to increase legal certainty, employment, technology transfer, business opportunities and income for SMEs and local communities, particularly those rich in biodiversity.

The event is organized with the support of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO under the Global BioTrade Programme: Linking trade, environment and sustainable development and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

ditc-ted-16072018-biotrade-hlpfNY-circle-350.jpgBackground

For two decades, BioTrade and its partners and beneficiaries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe have contributed to enhancing environmental, social and economic sustainability through the trade of biodiversity-based goods and services. This has generated initiatives that use their surrounding biodiversity, going beyond traditional agricultural crops and livestock, to develop and trade value added products. Moreover, BioTrade is increasing the economic self-reliance and resilience of communities and SMEs, mainstreaming biodiversity and ABS, while safeguarding biodiversity. Consequently, BioTrade contributes directly and indirectly to 94% of the SDGs.

Though only 4% of world trade (US$290 billion) is related to biodiversity-based goods and services (Gomez-García et al, 2014), the market has shown astonishing growth in past decades and is continuing to grow at a rapid pace. For instance, the growth of the natural product sales increased from US$1.9 billion in 1980, to US$141 billion in 2016 (New Hope Network, 13 July 2017), provided stimulus for companies to shift towards socially and environmentally friendly production processes. More significantly, sales from BioTrade beneficiary companies and associations have reached Euro 4.44 billion (US$5.38 billion) in 2016 in over 3500 value chains in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe, illustrating a significant increase from US$ 30 million in 2003.

Today, more than 105 countries have ratified the Nagoya Protocol. Well-designed Nagoya-compliant BioTrade value chains, framed by enabling Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS) regimes are fostering a range of Agenda 2030 Goals with the target 6 of SDG 15 at its core. Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS) is directly related to poverty alleviation, (1.4), food security (2.5), health (3.b), economic growth (8.3), infrastructural development (9.5, 9.5b), climate change adaptation (13.1), marine conservation (14.7, 14.7a), terrestrial conservation (15.a), peace and justice (16.3, 16.6), and global partnerships (17.3, 17.7, 17.9, 17.17, 17.15).

In response to the worldwide consumer and market trends of “more natural” and “more traceable” products and services such as those in the food, body care and pharmaceutical sectors, R&D and innovation-oriented projects with strong monitoring components are on the rise. Increasingly, BioTrade companies tend to engage in R&D at the higher level of the value chain and therefore potentially trigger ABS regulations. Recent experiences in countries such as South Africa, Peru, and Viet Nam show that there is flexibility and various models and options to create incentives for compliance and sharing of benefits for all parties involved.

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19 Jun 2018
 
Co-organizer(s):
UNCTAD and ABS Capacity Development Initiative

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Language(s)
English  |   Français  |    
Related Site:

United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF)
 

Trade and Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Branch
http://unctad.org/topic/trade-and-environment

State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO
https://www.seco-cooperation.admin.ch/secocoop/en/home.html
 
 
 
 
 
BioTrade Congresses
IV BioTrade Congress: Trade and Biodiversity Conservation
III BioTrade Congress: Promoting Sustainable use through Business Engagement
II BioTrade Congress: Integrating REDD+ into BioTrade Strategies
I BioTrade Congress: Biodiversity – The Life of the Green Economy
 

Contact

Ms. Lorena Jaramillo biotrade@un.org