Mainstreaming Climate Change Into Aid for Trade
Climate change, environmental pollution and biodiversity loss present increasing risks to trade opportunities for smallholders, cooperatives and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in least developed countries.
Mainstreaming climate change and environment is, therefore, a necessary design feature of Aid for Trade (AfT) value chain projects. This was the main takeaway from a joint working session between staff from the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) last week.
Staff worked through the ITC Guide on Mainstreaming Environment into Aid for Trade as a means to share lessons learnt between staff from the Enhanced Integrated Framework and the Standards and Trade Development Facility.
Environmental issues, in particular climate change, present a wide ranging set of risks to farmers in developing countries, including extreme weather events, lost productivity and increased incidence of pests and diseases. Climate change is one of several global change factors that are contributing to increased and new food safety, animal and plant risks, as STDF work in this area illustrates.
CIFOR