BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:unctad.org BEGIN:VEVENT UID:6a83ce3d9737b DTSTART:20240704T120000Z SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:OPAQUE DTEND:20240704T143000Z LOCATION:Geneva\, Switzerland SUMMARY:First day: Seventh Stakeholders Steering Committee (SSC) meeting fo r BioTrade CLASS:PUBLIC DESCRIPTION:ObjectiveThe Global BioTrade programme “Linking trade\, biodi versity and sustainable development”’s Stakeholders Steering Committee (SSC) has brought together BioTrade partners on an annual basis allowing joint exploration of key issues in sustainable trade and biodiversity whil e contributing to policy recommendations for the international fora. The S SC is a valuable platform for sharing experiences\, setting priorities\, g uiding partners’ actions\, allocating responsibilities and identifying a reas for potential partnerships\, with the aim of coordinating BioTrade ac tivities worldwide.For ensuring the continued coordination and collaborati on among BioTrade partners beyond the current programme ending in October 2024\, the 7th SSC meeting will:Discuss the development of a new framework for UN Trade and Development’s work on trade and biodiversity\, notably the “Trade for Biodiversity (T4B) programme” (Day 1).Provide a sharin g and learning opportunity for partners to highlight their past and future activities\, including those related to the upcoming 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 16) of the Convention on Biological Diversi ty (CBD) (Day 2).Exchange on coordination and knowledge sharing channels f or continued engagement on BioTrade activities beyond the current programm e\, for example through virtual SSC meetings (Day 2).BackgroundUN Trade an d Development (UNCTAD) first launched the first phase of the BioTrade Faci litation Programme in 2003 with the support of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO. The programme started with the aim of assistin g developing countries’ private and collective enterprises in export pro motion of sustainably extracted biodiversity-based goods and services\, pr oviding a sustainable livelihood to local communities and thus an incentiv e to protect biodiversity. This was done by implementing the BioTrade Prin ciples and Criteria and related schemes. Since then\, the BioTrade Initiat ive has been implementing several programme phases collaborating with an i ncreasing number of partners implementing BioTrade programmes at the inter national\, regional and national levels.The current programme phase named Global BioTrade programme “Linking trade\, biodiversity and sustainable development” was launched in 2018.  It aims to support the achievement of the SDGs\, the Aichi targets and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversi ty Framework (The Biodiversity Plan) adopted in 2022. The programme contri butes to expanding the potential of the BioTrade approach for biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction\, as well as seizing business opportun ities evidenced by the turnover growth of companies\, associations and pro jects implementing the BioTrade Principles and Criteria and related scheme s\, from $40 million in 2003 to $31 billion in 2022. For this\, the BioTra de Initiative has been working with a wide range of partners\, practitione rs and stakeholders in over 80 countries to conserve biodiversity and gene rate livelihoods while promoting sustainable trade.In October 2022\, SECO and UN Trade and Development agreed to a 2-year extension of the current p hase focusing on BioTrade but also expanding the scope to other emerging t rade and biodiversity related issues. Through this extension\, work suppor ts key stakeholders to seize and capitalize on trade opportunities while s ynchronizing and leveraging results from previous phases.https://unctad.or g/project/global-biotrade-facilitation-programme-linking-trade-biodiversit y-and-sustainable\n\nView meeting on unctad.org\nhttps://unctad.org/meetin g/first-day-seventh-stakeholders-steering-committee-ssc-meeting-biotrade DTSTAMP:20260818T031509Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR