The Intergovernmental Group of Experts on E-commerce and the Digital Economy,
Recalling paragraph 100 (r) of the Nairobi Maafikiano (TD/519/Add.2), which called for the establishment of an intergovernmental group of experts on electronic commerce (e-commerce) and the digital economy,
Recalling the Bridgetown Covenant (TD/541/Add.2), in which member States instructed UNCTAD to strengthen the work on assisting developing countries to systematically assess their state-of-play and readiness to engage and integrate into the digital economy, thus contributing to the closing of digital divides, and to conduct work across its three pillars on the development dimension of the use of data and frontier technologies,
Recalling in particular paragraph 11 (e) of the Global Digital Compact (A/RES/79/1) on promoting sustainability across the life cycle of digital technologies in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty,
Recognizing the role of e-commerce and the digital economy in contributing to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the timeliness of the deliberations at this session of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts in the light of related processes in the United Nations, such as the World Summit for the Information Society 20-year review and the implementation of the Global Digital Compact,
Acknowledging the environmental footprint of the digitalization process and the need for a circular economy, as examined in Digital Economy Report 2024,
Noting with concern the persistent digital divides and that countries face growing exposure to environmental impacts associated with the life cycle of digitalization, while recognizing that many developing countries have limited access to digital technologies to mitigate negative environmental effects,
- Calls for global action by all stakeholders to bridge digital divides between and within countries and to expand equitable and affordable access to digital technologies, to unlock the potential of digital economy;
- Invites Governments and the international community to promote international cooperation, including through financial resources mobilizations, capacity-building and technology innovation, and to develop and implement policies that can help countries better face the challenges posed by digital transformation and environmental sustainability, while balancing them with benefits;
- Calls on all stakeholders to work towards enhancing the understanding of the environmental footprint of digitalization; and welcomes relevant initiatives in this regard;
- Encourages Governments, in consultation with other stakeholders, to consider environmental objectives in digitalization policies, and digital dimensions in environmental policies;
- Stresses the importance of development-oriented policies and international cooperation to enhance value addition in natural resource-rich countries and promote the integration of developing countries into higher-value production processes and environmental, social and governance-related standards in supply chains;
- Encourages Governments and relevant stakeholders to explore policies and environmental, social and governance-related standards for the development of data centres to become more energy and water efficient, as well as environmentally sustainable, especially in view of the growing use of compute-intensive technologies, such as artificial intelligence, and other related frontier technologies;
- Encourages Governments and relevant stakeholders to promote responsible and sustainable production and consumption and strengthen circularity in the digital economy;
- Encourages the adoption of policies for the responsible management of digitalization-related waste, including by strengthening the enforcement of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal;
- Calls on the international community, development partners and relevant organizations to support developing countries, particularly the least developed countries and small island developing States, in strengthening their readiness to harness digital opportunities in an environmentally sustainable manner, including through targeted efforts to address the needs of developing countries;
- Calls on UNCTAD to continue supporting countries in strengthening their readiness for digital transformation by integrating the sustainable development dimension of digitalization across its three pillars of work.