A lot of attention is now being paid to green industrial policy and issues arising at the intersection of green economy and trade policy. In the past two years or so, a number of cases challenging domestic support for renewable energy have brought into focus problems surrounding what may be considered objectively desirable measures. Alongside the issues concerning regulations sit corporate strategies and practices. These may be designed explicitly to comply with host country regulations, or they may be freestanding—a demonstration of a company’s commitment to the national economy or local community, or part of the business development strategy intentionally linking bottom-line decisions with sustainable development. Indeed, localizing an increasing share of value-added along a value chain is an important part of sustainable development and diversification.
There are a number of questions the meeting will bring into focus:
- What do we know about the economic and environmental effectiveness of performance requirements in green sectors? What are the combined effects of, and linkages among, performance requirements and support measures?
- Do performance requirements provide a compelling business case, with short- and long-term returns?
- Is there anything unique about renewables that makes them a special case for performance requirements?
- Does the politics of accommodating the higher cost of renewable energy demand a clear-cut avenue towards job creation through localization?
- Can a case be made for an international deployment strategy for renewables, i.e. expanding the number of countries that are shouldering the burden of deployment policies and enhancing international cooperation?
- Does greening the value chains provide a new rationale for performance requirements?
- Can better governance play a role in dealing with protectionist elements of support measures?
- Are there any upsides for developing countries in a world where performance requirements are extensively used?
