Ensuring that trade contributes to sustainable development is an explicit objective of both the WTO and of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (including the Sustainable Development Goals or ‘SDGs’). The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how trade and technology together can be mobilized for achieving the SDGs and in particular for addressing climate change. The article first discusses the general linkages between trade, technology, sustainable development, and the SDGs. Then the article explores the contribution that trade in environmental goods and services (EGS) and the Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA) more specifically can make to achieving different SDGs.
This assessment is among others based on a recent European Commission Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) on the EGA. The article therefore assesses the potential economic, environmental, and social impacts of the EGA. It rounds up by explaining the state-of-play of the EGA negotiations. The assessment was conducted through desk research, econometric and C02 modelling, and stakeholder consultation, including two regional workshops and an open questionnaire.
Journal of World Trade