UNITAR, through its learning platform UN CC:Learn, is offering a self-paced, free online course on Green Economy and Trade. Read on to know more about the course.
About UNITAR
The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) is a dedicated training arm of the United Nations system. UNITAR provides training and capacity development activities to assist mainly developing countries with special attention to Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and other groups and communities who are most vulnerable, including those in conflict situations.
About UN CC:Learn
The One UN Climate Change Learning Partnership (UN CC:Learn) is a joint initiative of more than 30 multilateral organizations helping countries to achieve climate change action both through general climate literacy and applied skills development.
UN CC:Learn provides strategic advice and quality learning resources to help people, governments and businesses to understand, adapt, and build resilience to climate change.
UN CC:Learn is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
Background
World trade patterns show that while many developing countries are now playing an increasing role in trade, many other – and particularly least developed countries who account for less than 1% of all global trade – remain stranded on the margins. Still heavily reliant on natural resource-based products and raw materials for their exports, these countries are highly vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks.
The transition to an inclusive green economy represents many significant opportunities. By harnessing the increasing global demand for environmental goods and services, as well as consumer demand for more sustainable products, countries can diversify their economies, reduce their commodity dependence and boost their competitiveness. Thus, societies promote long-term, sustainable development while also strengthening their capacity to tackle the manifold environmental challenges lying ahead.
Trade can also power a green economic recovery from COVID-19. Global demand for environmental goods and services is expected to rise as countries roll out economic stimuli with larger earmarks for climate-friendly solutions. While this course was developed prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, its contents, therefore, remain relevant to current policy discussions.
One practical challenge lies in ensuring that countries are both aware of these opportunities and that they possess the knowledge and skills to take advantage of them. To address this challenge, the course sets out to provide interested participants from government, business, and civil society with an introduction to the various approaches that may be taken to harness green trade opportunities.
General Details
Learning Objectives
Participants completing the course will be able to:
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Outline the evolution of legal and governance frameworks underpinning the trade and green economy interface
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Identify perceived challenges and potential opportunities related to trade in the transition to a green economy
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Describe enabling policy conditions to foster green trade practices
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Highlight sectoral case studies of green trade in action
Registration Fee
Content and Structure
The course aims to provide participants with a solid understanding of the policy instruments and enabling conditions needed for countries to advance the green economy transition via green trade, and vice-versa.
It contains 4 lessons, each taking approximately 20 minutes to complete:
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The trade and environment interface
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Perceived tensions and synergies between trade liberalisation and the green economy
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Enabling conditions and policy design for green trade
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Seizing sectoral opportunities
Certificate
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A final quiz composed of 10 multiple choice questions serves to assess learners’ achievement of the course’s learning objectives.
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The quiz can be taken at any time and attempted up to 3 times.
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Learners need to pass the quiz with a score of at least 70%.
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Once the quiz is successfully passed, a Certificate of Completion will be available for download on the course’s Certification page.
How to Enrol?
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Click here to enrol for the course.
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To enrol for the course, interested participants must log in/create an account with UN CC:Learn.
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On the landing page, click on ‘Login to enrol’ for signing in/signing up to your account with UN CC:Learn.
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Login to your account.
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After logging in, you will come back to the course page. Click on ‘Enrol Me’ and start learning.
