Biodiversity is the natural capital base for a sustainable economy. The conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use and trade of biodiversity-derived products and services can provide countries valuable opportunities for economic development and improvement of livelihoods. To capture this opportunity, in 1996 UN Trade and Development launched the BioTrade Initiative to to promote trade and investment in biodiversity-based products and services to further sustainable development in line with the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The core of the Initiative is the BioTrade Principles and Criteria (P&C), a set of guidelines for promoting sustainability across the entire value chain.  These are implemented with partners in over 80 countries by governments, businesses and civil society across various biodiversity-based sectors.

Since 2018, UN Trade and Development and partners implement the Global BioTrade Facilitation Programme: Linking trade, biodiversity and sustainable development funded by the Swiss State Secretariat of Economic Affairs SECO. It supports key stakeholders to seize and capitalize on trade opportunities for biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction while promoting sustainable development, thus advancing the implementation of The Biodiversity Plan as well as the SDGs. It covers three areas: knowledge sharing and coordination, creating an enabling policy environment and facilitating market access for BioTrade actors.

In light of the closing of this BioTrade programme in October 2024, this event will showcase the lessons learned, best practices and impact of the programme’s implementation by UNCTAD and partners. This side-event will also serve as a platform to demonstrate the importance of key tools resulting from the programme such as the BioTrade Principles and Criteria updated in 2020, the BioTrade Self-Assessment Tool for companies and entrepreneurs to assess their practices and the Trade and Biodiversity (TraBio) Statistical Tool that provides information on the trade of biodiversity-based products for over 180 economies since 2010. All this work contributes in advancing the implementation of The Biodiversity Plan, including targets 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18 and 21.

Panelists: 

• Government representatives
  • from a BioTrade beneficiary country: Ms. Preshanthie Naicker, Project Director, South Africa Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, South Africa
  • Donor representative (TBC)

• Private sector representative/business association (TBC)

• Civil society representative (community-based association) (TBC)