7th BioTrade Congress: Global governance for trade and biodiversity

Statement by Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General of UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

Your Excellencies,

Distinguished Ambassadors [of the African Union Commission, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Indonesia, OECS, Samoa],

Dear colleagues at UNCTAD, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

We are joined today by many high-level representatives. Let me welcome each one of you to the 7^th BioTrade Congress – thank you for joining us. At the same time allow me to congratulate the organizers for their vision and ambition in putting together this congress.

We acknowledge and express our deepest appreciation to the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, SECO, for their support and trust in UNCTAD’s BioTrade Initiative for almost two decades, as well as our partners at the national, regional, and international levels.

Today, we stand at a critical crossroads. Biodiversity, the fabric of life on Earth, is declining at an alarming rate. One million plant and animal species are at risk of extinction - this is an existential threat.

The cost of inaction is staggering. According to PwC, 55 per cent of the world’s GDP (around $58 trillion) is dependent on nature. And according to a World Bank simulation, a collapse in our natural systems (in forestry, pollination, and fisheries) would cost us $2.7 trillion annually by 2030, hitting low-income countries especially hard.

The gravity of this biodiversity crisis demands immediate action, and I come to you with one message—just ONE SIMPLE message: Trade and trade policy can be a powerful tool for biodiversity conservation. But this will require the right approach.

Biodiversity-based products represent 17 per cent of global exports ($3.7 trillion) in 2021, with even higher stakes for low-income economies, often surpassing 40 per cent of their exports for any given year for the past decade.

This is a clear sign that economic gain and a healthy planet are interdependent.

For decades, the BioTrade Initiative has proven that sustainable trade can indeed flourish and, in turn, nourish the very biodiversity it relies on. The core of our initiative is BioTrade’s Principles and Criteria, a set of guidelines to promote sustainability across the entire value chain, underpinned by core tenets such as conservation, sustainable use, fair and equitable sharing of benefits, community empowerment, and legal compliance.

This tool has supported over 80 countries throughout the years. We have also developed a statistical tool, TraBio, to measure biodiversity-related exports around the world, and alongside the ITC, we have built a BioTrade Knowledge Sharing and Self-Assessment tool.

We’ve seen what’s possible when countries and companies align themselves with the BioTrade Principles and Criteria; their trade-in value jumped from $40 million to nearly $31 billion in 20 years.  

Take South Africa, where BioTrade Initiative’s efforts have created over 3,700 jobs, boosted local sales by 51 per cent, and increased export sales by 178 per cent. Or Peru, where the trade of native superfoods generates around $500 million annually. Or Indonesia, whose exports of biodiversity-based products grew by a third in a single year in 2021, representing more than 36 per cent of the country’s total exports, and close to 10 per cent of its GDP.

Ladies and gentlemen,

This congress is a bridge between the worlds of trade and biodiversity. Here, we can learn from each other and forge partnerships to commit to the ambitious goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework Biodiversity Plan.

However, commitment without action is like a seed that is never planted. It will never take root, and it will never flourish.

We call upon all stakeholders, therefore, to let every decision made, every partnership formed, and every innovation sparked, be a step towards this commitment.

Let me reiterate my earlier point that sustainable trade can flourish and, in turn, nourish the biodiversity it relies on.

Let us trade, yes, but let us trade in a way that enriches our forests, revitalizes our oceans, and purifies our air. Let us not trade, but BioTrade.

Here’s to a fruitful discussion and to forging a path that respects, restores, and revitalizes our precious planet.

Thank You.