#United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

[southsouthcooperationday]

Multi-stakeholder round table 4: Addressing systemic issues.

5th Plenary meeting (continued) - Round table at the First Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 22-26 July 2024.

Watch the Multi-stakeholder round table 4: Addressing systemic issues!

[coopsday]

47th Regular Meeting of the United Nations Task Force on the Social and Solidarity Economy.

Led by the Co-Chairs of the UNTFSSE, Simel Esim from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Chantal Line Carpentier from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the virtual gathering brought together representatives from Members (UN Entities and the OECD) and Observer organizations to share international and regional updates to spur further collaboration on the SSE.

The call began with a welcome to the representatives of new Members, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) as an Observer.

Heidi Christ, lead of Made51 at UNHCR, expressed recommitment towards the task force, noting that, “Livelihoods for refugees is of primary concern to UNHCR, especially as the the refugee crisis deepens and longer-term solutions are needed. We are looking at the solidarity economy as way to offer solutions to refugees in a more protective environment”.

Leida Rijnhout, Chief Executive, WFTO, was appreciative of the positive response received from Members and Observers regarding their joining the task force. She highlighted the link between the SSE and the Fair Trade movement, sharing that “At the WFTO, we certify enterprises based on the fair trade principles. We are also a movement of entrepreneurial activists that promote people and planet over profit.”

Following introductions and general updates, the Co-Chairs presented the new UNTFSSE Action Plan, which details priorities and responsibilities for advancing the SSE agenda and implementing the UNGA Resolution A/RES/77/281. This plan, designed to foster policy coherence, drive capacity building, improve statistics, and increase access to finance, underscores the task force's strategic approach to mobilizing collective expertise and resources.

Further discussions focused on institutionalizing UNTFSSE governance through a newly drafted Terms of Reference and preparation of the Secretary General’s report for the UNGA 79th session. The Secretariat is currently collecting inputs from UN Entities, Member States, and Financial Institutions.

Technical Working Groups are currently being established on SSE Statistics and Financing. These groups will be composed of technical experts who will establish work plans and present updates to the task force at regular meetings. Highlights of recent and upcoming initiatives were shared by task force Members and Observers, including:

ILO’s Regional Conference on the Social and Solidarity Economy for Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals in Asia on May 14-15, 2024.

OECD’s Global Action on Mapping of Social Economy Ecosystems.

UNRISD’s four podcast episodes, interviewing authors from the SSE Encyclopedia.

Social Economy Europe’s EU Large Scale partnership for Skills of SE and Proximity Ecosystem.

DIESIS event on the Social Economy in the Western Balkans under the MESMER+ project.

CIRIEC Call for papers for a Special Issue of APCE on “Gender approaches of Social Economy and State-Owned Enterprises”.

EUCLID’s Women in Social Enterprise initiative.

Ms. Esim proposed to hold an online event to mark the occasion of the first year anniversary of the UN General Assembly resolution “Promoting the Social and Solidarity Economy for Sustainable Development” on April 18, 2024. She suggested this would be an occasion to highlight progress that has been made in the one year since the adoption of the resolution at the international and regional levels. Her proposal was well received by Members and Observers of the Task Force. It was agreed that the webinar would take place on April 18, 2024 from 1:30 – 2:45 pm CEST with presentations followed by a brief discussion. The ILO offered to make simultaneous translation available for the event in English, French and Spanish. The UNTFSSE Members and observers agreed to share the announcement and the Zoom link for the event widely.

Led by the Co-Chairs of the UNTFSSE, Simel Esim from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Chantal Line Carpentier from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the virtual gathering brought together representatives from Members (UN Entities and the OECD) and Observer organizations to share international and regional updates to spur further collaboration on the SSE.

The call began with a welcome to the representatives of new Members, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) as an Observer.

Heidi Christ, lead of Made51 at UNHCR, expressed recommitment towards the task force, noting that, “Livelihoods for refugees is of primary concern to UNHCR, especially as the the refugee crisis deepens and longer-term solutions are needed. We are looking at the solidarity economy as way to offer solutions to refugees in a more protective environment”.

Leida Rijnhout, Chief Executive, WFTO, was appreciative of the positive response received from Members and Observers regarding their joining the task force. She highlighted the link between the SSE and the Fair Trade movement, sharing that “At the WFTO, we certify enterprises based on the fair trade principles. We are also a movement of entrepreneurial activists that promote people and planet over profit.”

Following introductions and general updates, the Co-Chairs presented the new UNTFSSE Action Plan, which details priorities and responsibilities for advancing the SSE agenda and implementing the UNGA Resolution A/RES/77/281. This plan, designed to foster policy coherence, drive capacity building, improve statistics, and increase access to finance, underscores the task force's strategic approach to mobilizing collective expertise and resources.

Further discussions focused on institutionalizing UNTFSSE governance through a newly drafted Terms of Reference and preparation of the Secretary General’s report for the UNGA 79th session. The Secretariat is currently collecting inputs from UN Entities, Member States, and Financial Institutions.

Technical Working Groups are currently being established on SSE Statistics and Financing. These groups will be composed of technical experts who will establish work plans and present updates to the task force at regular meetings. Highlights of recent and upcoming initiatives were shared by task force Members and Observers, including:

ILO’s Regional Conference on the Social and Solidarity Economy for Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals in Asia on May 14-15, 2024.

OECD’s Global Action on Mapping of Social Economy Ecosystems.

UNRISD’s four podcast episodes, interviewing authors from the SSE Encyclopedia.

Social Economy Europe’s EU Large Scale partnership for Skills of SE and Proximity Ecosystem.

DIESIS event on the Social Economy in the Western Balkans under the MESMER+ project.

CIRIEC Call for papers for a Special Issue of APCE on “Gender approaches of Social Economy and State-Owned Enterprises”.

EUCLID’s Women in Social Enterprise initiative.

Ms. Esim proposed to hold an online event to mark the occasion of the first year anniversary of the UN General Assembly resolution “Promoting the Social and Solidarity Economy for Sustainable Development” on April 18, 2024. She suggested this would be an occasion to highlight progress that has been made in the one year since the adoption of the resolution at the international and regional levels. Her proposal was well received by Members and Observers of the Task Force. It was agreed that the webinar would take place on April 18, 2024 from 1:30 – 2:45 pm CEST with presentations followed by a brief discussion. The ILO offered to make simultaneous translation available for the event in English, French and Spanish. The UNTFSSE Members and observers agreed to share the announcement and the Zoom link for the event widely.

[wildlifeday]

UNCTAD Secretary-General Message for World Wildlife Day 2024.

Message for World Wildlife Day 2024 by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Secretary-General, Mrs. Rebeca Grynspan.

[worldcitiesday]

Global Observance of the World Cities Day 2023 in Istambul; Turkey.

The global economic outlook remains fragile amid a convergence of crises that are threatening to further reverse progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. The United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects 2023 projects that global growth will decelerate to 1.9 per cent in 2023. It is also estimated by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and IEA, that roughly $2.6 trillion dollars is required every year until 2030 to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and stay on course towards a net-zero society by 2050. (United Nations, 2023) This amount may appear huge but compared to annual global savings and other large financing markets, it is achievable. The availability of capital is large enough to solve global infrastructure needs. (WorldBank, 2022) To unlock this capital, a paradigm shift is essential to inform the way efforts toward sustainable development is deployed in low-to-middle income countries. A significant drop in development grant funding and an increase in public investment is a clear signal that a change from a granting model to a financing model is crucial in keeping up the pace towards attaining the SDGs. (UN-Habitat -CIF, 2023) While the financing model is not entirely new for public authorities, this period of economic downturn has not only elevated the urgency of scaling up investments for development but has also provided an opportunity for transformative innovative finance to be prioritized in public discourse. Such a discourse will be held on Monday, 31 October 2023. It will be a culmination of month-long global deliberations on financing sustainable urban development in a high-level segment at the of the World Cities Day 2023 in Istanbul, Türkiye. This session will bring together leaders of sovereign wealth funds, development finance institutions, private sector and governments.

[socialjusticeday]

2023 Commemorative Event on the Occasion of the World Day of Social Justice.

The Permanent Mission of the Kyrgyz Republic to the UN and the International Labour Organization, in partnership with the International Telecommunication Union and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the UN Youth Office, are pleased to convene the commemorative meeting of the 2023 World Day of Social Justice. This year’s theme will focus on the recommendations of Our Common Agenda to strengthen global solidarity and to re-build trust in government by “Overcoming Barriers and Unleashing Opportunities for Social Justice”.

Today, the majority of workers have not recovered their pre-pandemic labour incomes and the gender gap in hours worked has continued to grow. Increases in food and commodity prices is disproportionately impacting poor households and small businesses, especially those in the informal economy. Roughly half the world’s population remains without any access to social protection. And in too many places, having a job does not guarantee the ability to escape from poverty. A continued lack of decent work opportunities, insufficient investments in social policy, and an over-consumption of natural resources have led to an erosion of trust and a frayed social contract in many countries. Even before the pandemic, there was growing concern about the adverse effects of high and rising levels of inequality, and a recognition of the need for urgent and decisive action to reduce them and ensure more inclusive growth that provides decent work opportunities for all. The digital divide and disruptions to global trade and supply chains risk further deepening inequalities and poverty. Women and youth are disproportionately affected by overlapping crises, unemployment, and socio-economic insecurity and face many barriers in accessing decent work. There are however many opportunities to unleash greater investments in decent jobs, particularly in the green, digital and care economy. In an era of rapid technological development, young digital natives can also find solutions to overcome inequalities. Youth entrepreneurship is on the rise and the increasing number of incubators, accelerators, and programs focused on supporting young entrepreneurs contributes to this trend. As tech leaders, young entrepreneurs can also use their influence to advocate for policies and practices that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions, launched by the UN Secretary-General and welcomed by member States and many other stakeholders, also provides a platform to mobilize financing, to boost employment in the green, digital and care economy and to extend social protection floors. Almost thirty years ago, at the World Summit for Social Development in 1995, global leaders pledged to make the eradication of poverty, the goal of full employment and social justice overriding objectives of development. The 2030 Agenda also aims to “promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all”. Decent work has increasingly been recognized as the lynchpin of strategies to achieve social justice by linking the social, economic and environmental components of sustainability.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Today, we know from the research of Jason Hickel and his colleagues that in 2021 the Global North was able to extract from the Global South 826 billion hours in net appropriated labor. This represents $18.4 trillion measured in Northern wages. Behind this lies the fact that workers in the Global South receive 87–95 percent lower wages for equivalent work at the same skill levels. The same study concluded that the wage gap between the Global North and the Global South was increasing, with wages in the North rising eleven times more than wages in the South between 1995 and 2021. This research into the contemporary global labor arbitrage is coupled with recent historical work by Utsa Patnaik and Prabhat Patnaik that has now documented the astronomical drain of wealth during the period of British colonialism in India. The estimated value of this drain over the period of 1765–1900, cumulated up to 1947 (in 1947 prices) at 5 percent interest, was $1.925 trillion; cumulated up to 2020, it amounts to $64.82 trillion. It should be emphasized that the Global North’s contemporary drain of economic surplus from the Global South, via the unequal exchange of labor embodied in exports from the latter, is in addition to the normal net flow of capital from developing to developed countries recorded in national accounts. This includes the balance on merchandise trade (import and exports), net payments to foreign investors and banks, payments for freight and insurance, and a wide array of other payments made to foreign capital such as for royalties and patents. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the net financial resource transfers from developing countries to developed countries in 2017 alone amounted to $496 billion. In neoclassical economics, this is known as the paradox of the reverse flow of capital, or of capital flowing uphill, which it ineffectively tries to explain away by various contingent factors, rather than acknowledging the reality of economic imperialism. With respect to the geopolitical dimension of imperialism, the focus this century has been on the continuing decline of U.S. hegemony. Analysis has concentrated on the attempts of Washington, since 1991, backed by London, Berlin, Paris, and Tokyo, to reverse this. The goal is to establish the triad of the United States, Europe, and Japan—with Washington preeminent—as the unipolar global power through a more “naked imperialism.” This counterrevolutionary dynamic eventually led to the present New Cold War. Yet, despite all of the developments in imperialism theory over the last century, it is not the theory of imperialism so much as the actual intensification of the Global North’s exploitation of the Global South, coupled with the resistance of the latter, that has stood out. As Sweezy argued in Modern Capitalism and Other Essays in 1972, the sharp point of proletarian resistance decisively shifted in the twentieth century from the Global North to the Global South. Nearly all revolutions since 1917 have taken place in the periphery of the world capitalist system and have been revolutions against imperialism. The vast majority of these revolutions have occurred under the auspices of Marxism. All have been subjected to counterrevolutionary actions by the great imperial powers. The United States alone has intervened militarily abroad hundreds of times since the Second World War, primarily in the Global South, resulting in the deaths of millions. In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, the primary contradictions of capitalism have been those of imperialism and class.

3 November 2024

[odinsblog]

24JAN2024: On Sunday, Israel approved a plan to send taxes earmarked for Gaza to Norway instead of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Since November, taxes that would ordinarily be sent to Gaza have been frozen by the Israeli government.

Under the terms of a deal reached in the 1990s, Israel collects tax on behalf of the Palestinians and makes monthly transfers to the PA pending the approval of the Ministry of Finance.

While the PA was ousted from the Gaza Strip in 2007, many of its public sector employees in the enclave kept their jobs and continued to be paid with transferred tax revenues.

Weeks after the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, Israel took the decision to withhold payments earmarked for those employees in the Gaza Strip on the grounds that they could fall into the hands of Hamas.

Now, Israel says it will instead send the frozen funds to Norway. “The frozen funds will not be transferred to the Palestinian Authority, but will remain in the hands of a third country,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement released on Sunday.

Why does Israel control Palestinian tax revenue?

The system by which taxes and customs duties are collected by Israel on behalf of the PA and transferred to the authority on a monthly basis was agreed in a 1994 accord.

Known as the Paris Protocol, the accord was meant to manage the economic relationship between Israel and the Palestinian territories it occupied until a final peace settlement was reached between the two states.

Approved in the wake of the optimism generated by the Oslo Accords, which were publicly ratified by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at the White House in September 1993, this protocol was supposed to end within five years.

However, 30 years later, the financial settlement continues to give the Israeli state what the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has called “a disproportionate influence on the collection of Palestinian fiscal revenue, leading to deficiencies in the structure and collection of customs duties resulting from direct and indirect importing into Palestine”.

How much money is Israel withholding?

The tax revenues collected by Israel on behalf of the PA amount to around $188m each month, and account for 64 percent of the authority’s total revenue.

A large portion of this is used to pay the salaries of the estimated 150,000 PA employees working in the West Bank and Gaza, despite it having no jurisdiction over the Strip.

On November 3, the Israel security cabinet voted to withhold a total of $275m in Palestinian tax revenues, including cash collected for prior months that was still with Tel Aviv.

“The PA is not clear about how much of the tax revenues go to Gaza – it’s a black box,” Rabeh Morrar, director of research at the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute-MAS, told Al Jazeera. “Sometimes they say 30 percent, sometimes 40, sometimes 50.”

Under terms set by Israel’s cabinet on Sunday, the monthly tax revenue previously allocated to PA staff in Gaza will instead be transferred to a Norwegian-based trust account. However, that money cannot be released by the fund to pay workers in Gaza without permission from Israel.

How does Israel exercise ‘disproportionate influence’ over the PA?

The Israeli state has often used its control of the PA’s tax revenues as a means to blackmail and punish the authority.

In January 2023, for instance, the newly-formed Israeli government – seen as the most far-right coalition government in the country’s history – decided to withhold $39m in tax revenues from the PA following the authority’s decision to ask the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to rule on the legality of Israel’s decades-long occupation.

“Israeli blackmailing of our tax revenues will not stop us from continuing our political and diplomatic struggle,” said Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh at the time after Israel’s security cabinet had earlier described the PA’s ICJ move as a “decision to wage political and legal war against the State of Israel”.

What effect has Israel’s withdrawal of public money had on Palestine?

“The PA owes billions in internal debt to local banks, hospitals, medical companies and the private sector,” said Morrar. “There are also debts [owed], for example, for privately owned buildings rented out by the government. They have not been able to pay those back.”

In 2021, the PA’s financial crisis, exacerbated by Israel’s periodic refusal to pay the PA its total tax revenue share pre-October 7, prompted it to reduce all salaries by 25 percent.

(continue reading)

[arrogantwerpen]

"It will take Gaza 70 years to restore the GDP levels of 2022" concludes UNCTAD

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development just published a report on the economic situation in Gaza and the reach of devestation caused by Israeli aggression

Preliminary assessment of the economic impact of the destruction in Gaza and prospects for economic recovery

quoting some bits of the conclusion:

Monetary poverty has widened and deepened engulfing the entire population of Gaza. Multidimensional poverty is even worse because it takes into account deprivation of education, and basic infrastructure services to capture a more realistic picture of poverty. Living conditions in Gaza are at their lowest since occupation began in 1967 and will worsen even more unless the military operation stops. If Gaza is to remerge with a viable economy, the military confrontation should end immediately, and reconstruction should begin in earnest and without delay. The international community needs to act now before it is too late. A lasting ceasefire is needed now to allow sufficient and adequate humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. Reconstruction and recovery need to start now to put Gaza back on a sustainable development path. The future of the Palestinian people will be largely determined by the actions of the Government of Israel, donors and the international community. A new phase of economic rehabilitation predicated on peacebuilding cannot simply take as its goal a return to the pre October 2023 status quo. Only by ending the military confrontation and fully lifting the blockade of Gaza can there be hope to resolve sustainably the political, socioeconomic and humanitarian crisis engulfing Gaza.

...

At the moment, it is difficult to establish the scale of foreign aid required to bring Gaza back to the level of socioeconomic conditions that prevailed prior to the outbreak of the current confrontation, let alone a modicum of normality consistent with achieving the wider development ambitions enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals, but there is no doubt that it will amount to several tens of billions of dollars by any conservative estimation. However, donors and the international community should realize that the constraints on the Palestinian economy in general, and Gaza in particular, are not just the results of recent confrontation but are rooted in a prolonged 56-year occupation.

[tieflingkisser]

Gaza’s economy could take until 2092 to recover if Israel’s operations cease now: UN

It could take decades to rebuild Palestine’s war-torn Gaza and bring socio-economic conditions back to pre-conflict levels, the UN said, cautioning against the inhabitable conditions in the besieged enclave. The assessment came in a report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which outlined the severe economic and social destruction in Gaza since the beginning of Israel’s military operation. “An optimistic scenario suggests that even with an immediate end to the fighting, bringing Gaza back to the socioeconomic conditions that prevailed prior to the outbreak of the current confrontation would take decades without a properly funded recovery program fully backed by the international community,” the report said. It would take Gaza until 2092 to restore the GDP levels of 2022 given the 2007-2022 growth trends were to persist with an average growth rate of 0.4 percent, along with substantial international aid and cooperation, according to the report.

[pheonix1t23]

https://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/?p=275313

Since the war started, Israel has already awarded a dozen oil and gas exploration licenses in Palestine to six different Big Oil companies, including BP.

We should know by now that when both political parties in the U.S. show bipartisan support, something deeply sinister is happening behind the scenes. We should also know that when a superpower starts using human rights as a justification for their actions, there’s always an ulterior motive. Remember Saddam Hussein’s “weapons of mass destruction”?

Four years ago, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) published a report on “the unrealized potential of Palestinian oil and gas reserves.” The report estimates these reserves could generate “hundreds of billions of dollars” for whoever develops them. It also criticizes Israel for preventing Palestinians from developing those resources as a way to alleviate their massive poverty. You can read it here.

[beardedmrbean]

A Turkish firm has cut power supplies to Guinea-Bissau's capital over an unpaid bill of at least $15m (£12m), plunging the city into darkness.

It has severely disrupted daily life, with hospitals affected and radio stations off-air.

Economy Minister Suleimane Seidi acknowledged the arrears, saying most of the bill would be paid in 15 days.

Karpowership is one of the world's biggest floating power plant operators, supplying several African states.

But it has taken a tough line over non-payment. Last month, it cut power to Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, over an unpaid bill of $40m.

The Turkish company has also signed a deal to supply power to South Africa, saying it will cover more than 5% of the country's total electricity needs.

South Africa has been hit by a wave of power cuts with people going without electricity for up to 10 hours a day.

Power was cut in Bissau, a city with a population of more than 400,000, in the early hours of Tuesday and has not been restored, a resident told the BBC.

Some public hospitals are now using generators to carry out surgery, local journalist Assana Sambu told the BBC.

But they don't have running water because there is not enough electricity, and hospital directors have appealed for power in order to cook food for their patients.

Another journalist, Alberto Dabo, said he was drinking water from a well because water supplies had been cut amid the sweltering heat which reaches 40C.

"Our houses are very hot. Most families stay outside till 4am before entering their houses to spend the rest of the night. You can't stay indoors because of the heat."

State-run Rádio Nacional is among media outlets that have stopped broadcasting, while the private radio station where Sambu works is only partially operating, he added.

Karpowership says it has been supplying 100% of Guinea-Bissau's electricity since signing a five-year agreement with the state-owned electricity and water utility company in 2019.

The country is one of the poorest in the world and has been beset by instability since independence.

"Unfortunately, following a protracted period of non-payment, our [floating power plant] is now unable to continue operating," a Karpowership spokesperson was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying.

"We are working around the clock with officials to resolve this issue and we aim to have generation back online as soon as possible," the spokesperson added.

Energy Minister Isuf Baldé said $6m of the $15m bill had been paid.

"In a small and poor country like Guinea-Bissau, carrying out a transfer operation of this level, $10m, takes time," he said.

He added that the contract with Karpowership needed to be renegotiated because costs had almost doubled since it began, to a level Guinea-Bissau could no longer afford.

The company also supplies electricity to six other African countries - Ghana, The Gambia, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Senegal and Sierra Leone.

The company prides itself as "the owner, operator and builder of the world's only Powership (floating power plant)".

Its involvement in the electricity sector is the latest example of Tukey's growing influence in Africa.

Although access to electricity has increased in sub-Saharan Africa in recent years, it still remains low, with more than 50% of the region's population having no grid connection, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad).

[southsouthcooperationday]

Multi-stakeholder round table 2: International trade as an engine for development.

The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD) will take place from 30 June to 3 July 2025 in Spain. The Conference will result both in an intergovernmentally negotiated and agreed outcome and in summaries of the plenary meetings and other deliberations of the Conference, to be included in the report of the Conference. The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), through its Financing for Sustainable Development Office, and the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) will support the Conference and its preparatory process. 

Permanent Representative of Burundi Zéphyrin Maniratanga and Permanent Representative of Portugal Ana Paula Zacarias will co-chair the Committee. The Vice-Chairs of the Preparatory Committee are South Africa, Zambia, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Poland, the Russian Federation, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Canada, and Norway. China will serve as a Vice-Chair on a rotational basis with the other elected Asia-Pacific States.

The Preparatory Committee will hold two meetings in 2024 and a third session in February 2025. The Committee will also convene a one-day stakeholder hearing in October 2024.

Watch the Multi-stakeholder round table 2: International trade as an engine for development!

[coopsday]

Celebrating UNCTAD’s achievements of the past 60 years - Charting a New Development Course in a Changing World.

Marking its 60th Anniversary, UNCTAD Rebrands to “UN Trade and Development” and Convenes a Global Leaders Forum

UNCTAD’s 60th anniversary Rebrands as "UN Trade and Development" and convenes Global Leaders Forum with the UN Secretary-General, Heads of State, leading economists and Nobel Laureates in June 2024.

UN Trade and Development’s Secretary-General, Rebeca Grynspan, emphasized the organization’s transformative approach and commitment to supporting developing countries in an increasingly polarized world.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) announced today its landmark rebranding as "UN Trade and Development," commemorating its 60th anniversary this year. This strategic move underscores the organization's commitment to greater impact with a new, clearer visual identity aiming to better reflect its work and values aiming to amplify its global voice on behalf of developing countries.

Charting a New Course

Under the leadership of Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan, the organization has been adapting to a rapidly changing global trade landscape impacted by the COVD19 pandemic, geopolitical tensions and climate change, with initiatives that enhance the organization's capacity to rapidly analyze new challenges and support efforts in developing nations.

The rebranding marks a pivotal moment- the first ever comprehensive review of UNCTAD’s global communication footprint and a bold forward-looking strategy to communicate its work and values.

At the presentation of the organization’s new brand as part of its 60th anniversary celebrations, Secretary-General Grynspan underlined "Visible, transformational change is our objective. We are celebrating UNCTAD’s achievements of the past 60 years as a forward-looking, renewed organization, building on our legacy but ready to respond to the new complexities of the global economy. We will continue to work to ensure development is at the core of global economic decisions, and the voice of developing countries is heard."

The organization will adopt its new name and logo across all official channels, in the six UN languages, marking its first rebranding in sixty years.

60th anniversary celebration:  Global Leaders Forum

The rebranding marks the start of the 60th anniversary of the organization. UN Trade and Development will convene a Global Leaders Forum from 12-14 June at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, inaugurated by UN Secretary-General, António Guterres and UN Trade and Development Secretary-General, Rebeca Grynspan, alongside Heads of State and Government, and the participation of civil society organizations, private sector representatives and some of the world’s leading economists. Under the theme "Charting a New Development Course in a Changing World", the Forum will emphasize the organization’s integrated approach to trade and development, addressing finance, technology, investment, and sustainable development, with a specific focus on the needs of developing countries, and UNCTAD’s work in Africa, the least developed countries, small island developing states (SIDs), and landlocked developing countries.

It will also be an important occasion to explore innovative approaches and pioneering solutions with the world’s top policy makers and thinkers.

For more information about UN Trade and Development and its 60th-anniversary events, click here.

Download the video here.

**About UN Trade and Development: **

UN Trade and Development (formerly known as UNCTAD) is dedicated to promoting inclusive and sustainable development through trade and investment. With a diverse membership, it empowers countries to harness trade for prosperity.

[thestarlense]

Kenya Leads Africa with 4.25 Million Cryptocurrency Owners

Kenya has emerged as a significant player in the global cryptocurrency space, with approximately 4.25 million citizens—equivalent to 8.5% of its population—investing in digital currencies. This places Kenya ahead of many developed nations in cryptocurrency adoption, according to a recent report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The report highlights Kenya as the…

[rameshindustryarc]

𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡-𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐋𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝟒𝐏𝐋 : 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐨 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 (𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧)-IndustryARC™

Fourth-party Logistics  provider is responsible for management of networks of supply chain. Fourth-party Logistics  service providers construct, organize, and implement logistics solutions and technologies on behalf of multiple clients. Moreover, Fourth-party Logistics  companies combine the shipping needs of multiple logistics companies. Fourth-party Logistics  companies serve third-party logistics companies by acting as logistics aggregators and they aggregate third-party logistics demands into bulk volumes for more favorable rates.

The global Fourth-party Logistics  is dominated by Europe followed by North America, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. Europe is expected to maintain its dominance in the global market, as the demand for technology-driven supply chain management services is increasing in the region. Moreover, surge in adoption of blockchain for logistic management is driving the growth of this market.

Factors such as expansion of the e-commerce industry, rise in efficiency of supply chain & management systems, and increase in international trade are expected to drive the growth of the Fourth-party Logistics  market. However, complex supply chain and government barriers for logistics companies restrain the market growth. Conversely, technological advancement and introduction of blockchain are projected to offer lucrative growth opportunities for the market players.

In current scenario, the e-commerce industry is growing rapidly, due to rise in penetration of internet. Multiple benefits associated with e-commerce such as facility of home delivery, improvements in logistics services, and ease in payments have made it an ideal platform for purchasing. For instance, in May 2021, according to UNCTAD, a United Nation Conference on Trade and Development expert, the share of the global e-commerce sector's retail sales increased dramatically from 16% to 19% in 2020. Similarly, according to the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), India's e-commerce is expected to reach $99 billion by 2024, growing at 27.00% compared to 2019–2024, with food and fashion apparel likely to be major products.

𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬

The global Fourth Party Logistics market size is forecast to reach US$96.1 billion by 2030, after growing at a CAGR of 6.3% during 2024-2030.

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Experts Discuss ‘Industrial Policy, Trade, and the Political Economy of Decarbonization’ at COP29 Side Event Co-sponsored by the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements

Experts from academia, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector gathered Thursday (Nov. 14) for a side event, “Industrial Policy, Trade, and the Political Economy of Decarbonization,” at the Twenty-Ninth Conference of the Parties (COP-29) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Baku, Azerbaijan. The event was co-sponsored by the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements (HPCA) and moderated by HPCA Director Robert Stavins, the A.J. Meyer Professor of Energy & Economic Development at Harvard Kennedy School.

The other panelists were Daniele Agostini, Head of Energy and Climate Policies, Enel; Chantal Line Carpentier, Head of the Trade, Environment, Climate Change, and Sustainable Development Branch at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); Michael Mehling, Professor of Law at Strathclyde University and Deputy Director, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, MIT; and Joyashree Roy, Distinguished Professor at the Asian Institute of Technology.

Mehling launched the discussion with an overview of an HPCA Discussion Paper he wrote titled “Good Spillover, Bad Spillover? Industrial Policy, Trade, and the Political Economy of Decarbonization,” which examines the myriad ways in which spillovers can impede or advance climate actions in both intended and unintended ways.

“There's protectionist bias in trade policy that favors with tariffs, [that is] lower tariffs, upstream commodities to help keep domestic higher added value industries more competitive that further stimulates these emission transfers,” he said. “And if you consider the global carbon budgets report released yesterday that [in] each year still consistently adding to the annual emissions into the atmosphere, this is a problem that needs to be addressed.”

Mehling argued that we are beginning to see a “fundamental change in the paradigm of climate policy in major economies,” which could create some serious problems in the decades ahead.

“There's been this surge of industrial policy, especially in advanced economies just since 2021. I think there's been like 2,500 new industrial policies, many, if not the vast majority are trade distortive.  The reason is because they contain trade-related climate measures like conditional subsidies with localization requirements, local content requirements, export controls, domestic and export subsidies, and so on and so forth,” he remarked. “This interferes with the trade system and…part of my argument in this paper is that the positive spillovers of learning by doing of technology transfer, knowledge transfer, and eventually technology diffusion may be inhibited by the kind of policies that we now see emerging in reaction to many, many different drivers, many of which are absolutely justified and need to be dealt with.”

Mehling mentioned that the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) can have harmful spillover effects on trade policy through carbon leakage which can offset emissions reductions in one country with higher emissions in another. He also spoke of the so-called “green paradox” in which the anticipation of more restrictive climate policies in the future can provide incentives to oil and gas companies to boost their extraction of fossil fuels over the short term.

Roy spoke of decarbonization efforts in India through market-based policies that reward companies for reducing emissions. These voluntary efforts, she remarked, were spawned by the nation’s Energy Conversation Act, first introduced in 1991 and revised in subsequent years. Among other things, she explained, the Act created a “perform, achieve, and trade” platform, analogous to emissions trading policies elsewhere, in which companies were rewarded with certificates when they reduced their CO₂ emissions.

“They had to consistently reduce the fossil fuel intensity of their output to get the energy certificate, and the price of the energy certificate was related to the oil price so they always wanted to compare the fossil fuel price, how it is moving in the international market, and what price they have to pay and then what was the energy fossil fuel cost of their output,” she said.

Agostini, affiliated with Italy’s largest energy company, spoke of the ways in which Mehling’s paper stimulates the debate over how a wide range of climate policies intersect and sometimes intervene with global trade and economic efficiencies.

“As a company, we often look at what happens, and of course we espouse the cause of global trade economic efficiency, and we think everything should work accordingly. But then our scenario is [often] wrong because things don't [always] go that way,” he remarked. “We've seen that especially with carbon markets lately in this arena. So, papers and research that try to better understand why that doesn't happen and what we can do to optimize the process [are helpful]. But most of all for the private sector who needs to do the investments, [we want to] make the entire outlook more predictable because we need predictability.”

Agostini also argued that the private sector has an important role to play in ensuring that climate policy best practices are promulgated.

“The faster we spread good practices among policymakers, the faster the world is going to be more predictable. [Having a more] predictable investment context for the private sector will allow the private sector to upscale its investment. And in terms of spreading good practices, again the policy toolbox is key. More and more governments are starting to realize that it's not about constraining versus supportive, but it's getting the two to work together,” he stated.

Finally, Carpentier spoke of recent UNCTAD research conducted in collaboration with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), focusing on developing a deeper understanding of the different carbon pricing metrics and climate change mitigation policies to inform policymakers and policymaking.

“What we find is that developed countries, the OECD countries, have moved from regulation to standards to subsidies and then to carbon pricing,” she remarked. “They have not [immediately] jumped into carbon pricing... The price would be so outrageous, it would be politically unacceptable. So, you kind of start and then the policy mix [will] be different country by country depending on the environment, depending on the institutional capacity, and several other facts.”

Carpentier argued that better coordination is needed amongst countries and regions seeking effective CBAMs, and greater technical assistance is necessary to enhance the pace of global emission reductions.

“There is an effort within… the G-20 Plus [countries], the 35 largest greenhouse gas emitters that represent 85 percent of all the greenhouse gas emission. And the idea is probably for those larger countries and larger emitters, perhaps they should have a carbon price and if they're going to have a carbon price, they will have a border adjustment most likely. How do we work with them?,” she asked.  “Some of them, like Indonesia, have already asked the UN to help them because if you're going to put a carbon price, how do you go about it? What are the best practices? And we have several requests from several countries on that.”

Following their remarks, the panelists responded to questions from audience members, ranging from how to create larger markets where lower carbon products are more profitable to how to ensure that CBAM revenues can be more fairly distributed to impacted countries.

Stavins, reflecting on the session, commented that “climate change policy and trade policy can complement or conflict, and attempts to minimize conflicts can have unintended consequences, which is at the heart of current controversy regarding the new CBAM in Europe.  Whereas many of the more wealthy countries see the CBAM as a positive step possibly leading eventually to a carbon-pricing club, people from developing countries tend to see the CBAM as little more than environmental protectionism.” 

The side event was co-sponsored by the Harvard Project on Climate Agreements, the Enel Foundation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Foundation Environment - Law Society.