6th Dialogue of the Road to Bern via Geneva: On Environmental Data

The United Nations Environment Programme, the World Trade Organization, the Geneva Environment Network, the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations in Geneva and the Geneva Internet Platform - in cooperation with host organizations and other supporting organizations - organized the Sixth Dialogue of the Road to Bern via Geneva on Environmental Data.

About the Cross-sectoral Dialogues on Digital Cooperation

In preparation of the UN World Data Forum 2021, that will take place in Bern – Switzerland in October 2021 and as a way to enhance the role of International Geneva in digital cooperation, a series of Cross-sectoral Dialogues on Digital Cooperation are being organized. By addressing data issues through different angles, such as their collection, protection, sharing and use and by matching it at the same time with key sectoral dimensions like health, science, technology, intellectual property, business, climate, humanitarian challenges, trade or environment, we aim at enhancing the added value of data to ultimately accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The Cross-sectoral Dialogues will pave the way of the Road to Bern via Geneva. These Dialogues are intended to deliver Geneva’s contributions to the UN World Data Forum and to foster valuable and beneficial participation. The cross-cutting and interactive discussions of the Dialogues allow to combine the experience of different sectors while enlarging the perspective on digital cooperation.

The previous Dialogues held in 2020-21 were : #1. Data Collection, #2. Data Protection; #3. Data Sharing; #4. Use of Data; #5. Data & Tech 4Good.

Using Data and Digital Technologies to Advance Sustainable Trade and Environmental Transparency

Dialogue #6 on Environmental Data covered the theme “Using data and digital technologies to advance sustainable trade and environmental transparency”. This Dialogue showcased the latest digital sustainable trade and environment transparency concepts and tools, with an emphasis on the digital product passport concept. It brought in the perspectives of governments, businesses and other stakeholders on the potential use cases, challenges, opportunities and enabling policies.

Speakers

By order of intervention

Jean-Pierre REYMOND

Chargé de mission; Head, Innovation Partnerships, Permanent Mission of Switzerland in Geneva

Bruno POZZI

Director, Europe Office, UNEP

Aik Hoe LIM

Director, Trade and Environment Division, WTO

H.E. Amb. Manuel TEEHANKEE

Philippines Ambassador | Chair, WTO Committee on Trade and Environment

Elisabeth TUERK

Director of the Economic Cooperation and Trade Division, UNECE

Christian SCHILLER

Co-Founder & CEO of Cirplus

Simon EVENETT

Professor, Global Trade Alert, University of St. Gallen

Christine CHOIRAT

Head, Data Science Section, Swiss Federal Statistical Office

Emmanuelle GANNE

Senior Analyst, WTO

Sajal MATHUR

Counsellor, WTO

Carolyn DEERE-BIRKBECK

Director, Forum on Trade, Environment and the SDGs

Ilias IAKOVIDIS

Advisor, DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology (CONNECT), European Commission

David JENSEN

Head Digital Transformation, UNEP

Cristina BUETI

Counsellor, International Telecommunication Union

Eliane UBALIJORO

Global Hub Director, Canada, Future Earth; Executive Director, Sustainability in the Digital Age

Anna STANLEY

Manager, Value Chain Carbon Transparency Pathfinder, World Business Council for Sustainable Development

H.E. Amb. Chad Blackman

Barbados Ambassador | former Chair, WTO Committee on Trade and Environment

Jovan KURABALIJA

Professor, Founding Director of Diplo Foundation and Head of Geneva Internet Platform

Agenda

Introduction

Welcome and opening remarks

Session 1 | Accelerating sustainable trade through transparency and digitalization of data

Climate change and environmental degradation are some of the most pressing challenges for the today’s world. With the urgent need for us to create a sustainable future, data can play an important role. This session will
look at digital technologies, tools, and digital data and will bring in the perspectives of the private and public sector, academia and international organizations on the potential use, challenges and opportunities for digital
data to enhance transparency and advance sustainable trade.

The panel discussed the following questions:

What are the costs, benefits, opportunities and challenges of digitalization of data?
Can and, if so, how will the digitalization of data help advance sustainable trade?
What are the recent transparency tools and initiatives towards the digitalization of trade and environmental data?
How can digital technologies (such as blockchain) help progress toward sustainable production and consumption patterns and advance the circular economy and sustainable trade?

Session 2 | What is a digital product passport and why will it transform sustainable trade and environmental transparency?

In order to transition to a circular economy, managing resources sustainably and reducing pollution and wastes in the environment, it will be necessary to move to sustainable products through their full life-cycle. The digital product passport is an initiative that can utilize existing and emerging technologies to improve transparency and sustainable consumption. This session will discuss the concept of a digital product passport, as well as the opportunities and challenges and bring forward the key messages to feed into the UN World
Data Forum.