Nanjing, Jiangsu, June 5, 2017 – The workshop on “Unlocking South-South Trade in Environmental Goods and Services in Jiangsu” was held in Nanjing as part of the Green Trade Project under the framework of Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE). The workshop convened around 50 participants from local governments, business associations, environmental companies, international organizations, and environmental NGOs. Key issues discussed included global and national trends in trade in Environmental Goods and Services (EGS), Jiangsu’s experience in trade in renewable energy and environmental technologies, implications of rising global value chains of EGS, as well as opportunities and challenges of expanding green trade with developing countries.
The workshop was jointly organized by the Environment and Trade Hub of UN Environment and Policy Research Center for Environment and Economy of Ministry of Environmental Protection (PRCEE) of China, in collaboration with Jiangsu International Environmental Development Centre (JIEDC). Keynote presentations were delivered by representatives from UN Environment, PRCEE, the Environmental Protection Department of Jiangsu Province, the Department of Commerce of Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu Association of PV industries, Global Value Chains Institute, and Shanghai University of International Business and Economics.
Ms. Liu Jianlin, Chief Engineer (Deputy Director-General) of the Environmental Protection Department of Jiangsu Province highlighted the importance of the workshop to Jiangsu’s Green Development and Green Economy Transition. She expected the workshop to further understanding of green trade and explore South-South cooperation on EGS trade and value chain integration.
Mr. Xia Guang, the director-general of PRCEE noted the potential of Jiangsu to upgrade EGS trade as a pathway towards Green Economy, given its fast-growing trade in renewable energy and strong policy commitment from the local government. He regarded the workshop as an important starting point for translating EGS trade potential into local level development opportunities.
Ms. Zhang Ying from UN Environment shared the work of the Environment and Trade Hub on green trade in the context of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement, and the rising global momentum driven by south-south trade, global value chains, as well as regional trade agreements and plurilateral negotiations. “As an early mover of EGS trade and Green Economy Transition, Jiangsu enjoys great potential on green trade and has a lot to share with its trading partners. We hope the workshop could help Jiangsu identify and harness these opportunities, as well as scale up successful stories and good practices to more developing countries.” She said at the workshop.
The workshop kicked off a new PAGE project to look at “The Role of Trade in Transition to a Green Economy in Jiangsu”. Jointly developed by the Environment and Trade Hub of UN Environment and PRCEE, the project aims to help Jiangsu evaluate and harness opportunities of green trade, summarize and share good practice, and explore how trade could facilitate the transition to an Inclusive Green Economy and achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). To achieve the goal, the project has been actively engaging with public and private stakeholders in the province, including the Environmental Protection Department of Jiangsu Province, the Department of Commerce of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, local business associations and environmental NGOs. Apart from the workshop, the project will also deliver a stocktaking study report on the development of green trade in Jiangsu with concrete policy recommendations. The project taskforce-an advisory body, was established to provide guidance and support for the implementation of project activities.
About Environment and Trade Hub of UN Environment
Launched in 2015, the Environment and Trade Hub serves as the overarching delivery mechanism for UN Environment’s work on trade. As a demand-driven mechanism, the Environment and Trade Hub offers capacity building and related policy advice on sustainable trade and investment that are tailored to local needs and circumstances. Its mission is to enable countries to use trade and investment as vehicles for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
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About Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE)
In order to response to the outcome of Rio+20 – the future we want, which identified green economy as an effective tool to achieve sustainable development and eliminate poverty, PAGE was then jointly launched by five UN agencies – UN Environment, International Labour Organization, UN Development Programme, UN Industrial Development Organization, and UN Institute for Training and Research. It aims to support related nations and regions in making and implementing green economic policies and strengthening participating countries’ capacity on implementing the initiative of inclusive green economy, to develop and provide kits or tools used for achieving green economy worldwide, and to generate and share related knowledge to support the implementation of green economy at national level. PRCEE is the coordinating agency for PAGE project in China.
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About Policy Research Center for Environment and Economy
The Policy Research Center for Environment and Economy (PRCEE) of the Ministry of Environmental Protection is a national environmental policy research institution providing support for macro-level decision-making on environmental protection in China. It was appointed as the focal point for PAGE projects in China. PRCEE successfully implemented a project on the theme of green economy with UN Environment, UNIDO, UNDP and Jiangsu local government last year. A report on “Transition to a green economy in China’s Jiangsu province”, was published in 2016 as an outcome of the project.
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