News

Drawing on a powerful new database that tracks and traces the plastic life cycle, UNCTAD shows where countries can apply trade policy pressure to reduce pollution.

The rebound in the fourth quarter of 2020 was uneven and largely powered by the trade of goods from and to developing countries.

By Marisa Henderson, Chief of the Creative Economy Programme, and Amy Shelver, Public Information Officer, UNCTAD

Here’s why the UN has dedicated a whole year to the creative economy and its critical role in promoting sustainable development, especially in a post-coronavirus world.

UNCTAD Secretary-General sets down roadmap for health, productivity, prosperity and fixing a fractured global economy scarred by the coronavirus pandemic ahead of its October 2021 quadrennial conference in Barbados.

By Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General, UNCTAD

UNCTAD estimates show a 5% drop in world trade in the third quarter of 2020 compared to 2019, an improvement from the 19% decline in the second quarter but insufficient to pull trade out of the red.

The coronavirus pandemic dealt a severe blow to global merchandise trade. Data from weekly port calls by container ships show early but uneven signs of recovery.

UNCTAD15, the UN trade and development body's fifteenth quadrennial conference, will take place under the theme “From inequality and vulnerability to prosperity for all” as the world seeks solutions for a global new normal.

Over 150 officials complete an UNCTAD online course delivered as part of efforts to help developing countries tackle the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.