Kicking away the ladder or building new scaffolding? Green trade measures and their development implications – a focus on the textiles and clothing global value chain
Date
Time (GMT +01)
08:00 09:15
Image credit:Series of Africa print textiles at a market.
Image license:Eva Blue / Unsplash
Thursday, 14 September 2023
07:00 – 08:15 GMT | 08:00 – 09:15 BST | 09:00 – 10:15 CET
Room S2, World Trade Organization
Description
Urgent action is needed to address the climate emergency and new sectoral initiatives driven by the need to achieve net-zero have arisen, including in the textiles and clothing sector. This sector has historically been archetypal in enabling poor countries to gain a foothold into industrialisation and global value chains. However, the impact of new green trade measures could unleash new exclusionary forces as supply chains adjust to new regulatory requirements. Unless mitigated, this process could undermine the very objectives the new policy instruments seek to achieve, as well as broader global commitments on sustainable development as part of the 2030 Agenda.
This panel draws on country experiences from Africa and Asia to explore the nexus of environmental, social and economic upgrading within the textiles and clothing value chain. It draws out the implications for inclusive policies for the advancement of green trade.
