BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:unctad.org BEGIN:VEVENT UID:6af4aa61d5755 DTSTART:20221026T130000Z SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:OPAQUE DTEND:20221026T140000Z LOCATION:Press Club\, Rue Froissart 95 - 1040 Brussels\, Belgium\, Belgium SUMMARY:Voluntary Sustainability Standards Dialogue on Sustainable Trade an d Development Opportunities CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) explici tly highlight the importance of sustainable consumption and production. In itiative which certifies products against a set of social and environmenta l standards play a central role in this regard. Since its emergence in the late 20th century\, Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) were heralde d as innovative new instruments to help meet some of the most pressing sus tainability challenges. Today\, VSS have been propelled from specialty nic hes into mainstream markets due to rising demand among consumers\, buyers and producers to address socio-economic\, environmental and food safety co ncerns. \n\nMore importantly\, international trade policy has evolved in terms of content\, increasingly incorporating non-trade objectives\, such as sustainable development provisions. By incorporating sustainability sta ndards in trade policy\, the ambition of VSS could complement government a ction\, providing governments with a tool to tackle pressing sustainabilit y issues. This has led to the emergence of the concept of sustainable trad e.\n\nSustainable trade can help in fostering more sustainable value chain s and mitigate the crises as firms across the globe seek new ways to suppl y goods in a highly unstable market. The UNFSS 5th Flagship Report on &quo t\;Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS)\, Sustainability Agenda\, and Developing Countries: Opportunities and Challenges"\; has laid out the multiple roles of VSS to advance the sustainability agenda in developing countries and assess the opportunities and challenges associated with VSS uptake.  \n\nWith a clear focus on developing countries\, the report is a compilation of contributions of several renowned academic experts and po licy makers from around the world\, who has illustrated a multi-disciplina ry area of research that assesses the opportunities and challenges of VSS\ , that would have been able to pursue what is understood as sustainable tr ade. \n\nThe objective of this VSS dialogue is\,\n\n\nTo invite high-leve l practitioners to evaluate and validate the need to pursue Sustainable Tr ade\nTo explore the opportunities and challenges of using Voluntary Sustai nability Standards to make trade more sustainable\nTo strategize the build ing blocks of Sustainable Trade in cross-border operations\n\n\nModerator: \n\nDr. Bernard Hoekman\, Professor and Director\, Global Economics at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies\, European University Institut e (EUI)\n\n \n\nPanelists:\n\nDr. Axel Marx\, Deputy Director\, Leuven Ce ntre for Global Governance\, KU Leuven\n\nMr. Santiago Fernandez de Cordob a\, Chief VSS Program\, UN Forum for Sustainability Standards\, UNCTAD\n\n Mr. Bernd Lange\, Chair of the European Parliament on International Trade\ n\nMrs. Symone Betton Nayo\, Jamaica Ambassador-designate to Belgium and H ead of Mission to the EU \n\nMs. Kristin Komives\, Director of Programmes \, ISEAL\n<\;p>\;The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG s) explicitly highlight the importance of sustainable consumption and prod uction. Initiative which certifies products against a set of social and en vironmental standards play a central role in this regard. Since its emerge nce in the late 20th century\, Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) we re heralded as innovative new instruments to help meet some of the most pr essing sustainability challenges. Today\, VSS have been propelled from spe cialty niches into mainstream markets due to rising demand among consumers \, buyers and producers to address socio-economic\, environmental and food safety concerns.&\;nbsp\;<\;/p>\;\n\n<\;p>\;More importantly\, international trade policy has evolved in terms of content\, increasingly incorporating non-trade objectives\, such as sustainable development prov isions. By incorporating sustainability standards in trade policy\, the am bition of VSS could complement government action\, providing governments w ith a tool to tackle pressing sustainability issues. This has led to the e mergence of the concept of sustainable trade.<\;/p>\;\n\n<\;p>\;Su stainable trade can help in fostering more sustainable value chains and mi tigate the crises as firms across the globe seek new ways to supply goods in a highly unstable market. The UNFSS 5th Flagship Report on "\;Volun tary Sustainability Standards (VSS)\, Sustainability Agenda\, and Developi ng Countries: Opportunities and Challenges"\; has laid out the multipl e roles of VSS to advance the sustainability agenda in developing countrie s and assess the opportunities and challenges associated with VSS uptake.& amp\;nbsp\;&\;nbsp\;<\;/p>\;\n\n<\;p>\;With a clear focus on de veloping countries\, the report is a compilation of contributions of sever al renowned academic experts and policy makers from around the world\, who has illustrated a multi-disciplinary area of research that assesses the o pportunities and challenges of VSS\, that would have been able to pursue w hat is understood as sustainable trade.&\;nbsp\;<\;/p>\;\n\n<\;p& gt\;The objective of this VSS dialogue is\,<\;/p>\;\n\n<\;ul>\;\n& lt\;li>\;To invite high-level practitioners to evaluate and validate the need to pursue Sustainable Trade<\;/li>\;\n<\;li>\;To explore the opportunities and challenges of using Voluntary Sustainability Standards to make trade more sustainable<\;/li>\;\n<\;li>\;To strategize the building blocks of Sustainable Trade in cross-border operations<\;/li&g t\;\n<\;/ul>\;\n\n<\;p>\;Moderator:<\;/p>\;\n\n<\;p>\;Dr. Bernard Hoekman\, Professor and Director\, Global Economics at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies\, European University Institute (EUI)& lt\;/p>\;\n\n<\;p>\;&\;nbsp\;<\;/p>\;\n\n<\;p>\;<\;stro ng>\;Panelists:<\;/strong>\;<\;/p>\;\n\n<\;p>\;Dr. Axel Marx \, Deputy Director\, Leuven Centre for Global Governance\, KU Leuven<\;/ p>\;\n\n<\;p>\;Mr. Santiago Fernandez de Cordoba\, Chief VSS Program \, UN Forum for Sustainability Standards\, UNCTAD<\;/p>\;\n\n<\;p> \;Mr. Bernd Lange\, Chair of the European Parliament on International Trad e<\;/p>\;\n\n<\;p>\;Mrs. Symone Betton Nayo\, Jamaica Ambassador-d esignate to Belgium and Head of Mission to the EU&\;nbsp\;<\;/p>\;\ n\n<\;p>\;Ms. Kristin Komives\, Director of Programmes\, ISEAL<\;/p& gt\;\n\n\nView meeting on unctad.org\nhttps://unctad.org/node/38757 DTSTAMP:20261111T174817Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR