Outputs1) Preliminary AnalysisA 5-page desk research to provide participants an overview of current context of the topic and will be shared with participants before the Workshop for potential participants to review.
The draft structure of the Preliminary analysis will be: (i) Overview of trade and environment; (ii) current situation of trade and environment negotiation in WTO, bilateral and regional mechanisms; (iii) current situation of trade and environment negotiation and implementation in some APEC and non- APEC economies.
2) WorkshopA 2-day Workshop will be held in Viet Nam in 2025.
We expect there will be 6-10 speakers/ moderators and about 60 participants attending the Workshop.
The First day of the Workshop will be presentations of speakers, followed by Q&A Sessions. Participants may also have a chance to attend either (i) a Discussion session on some issues such as the opportunities, challenges and best practices, etc. in trade and environment negotiation and implementation or (ii) a Simulation/role playing exercise on one issue in trade and environment in RTA/FTA negotiation on the First day of the Workshop. The Second day of the Workshop will be presentations, Q&A, group break-out and a panel discussion.
The Presentation may include presentations on overview, information, experiences, best practices on relationship between trade and environment, especially emerging environmental issues in RTAs/FTAs.
Participants and speakers can continue to share ideas, experiences and discuss further in the Q&A Session at the end of each Session.
The Group break out and Panel Discussion Sessions will focus on suggestions at economy and APEC levels for consideration of activities/ policies to further enhance the relationship between trade and environment, especially emerging environmental issues in RTAs/FTAs. This Session also recap the key learnings and facilitates discussion amongst participants about what they gained most from the event and how they can or plan to apply information and resources gained at the Workshop to apply in their economy. Participants can actively share their perspectives and clarify their concerns on this topic, discuss on solutions to solve the problems for practical implementation.
Organizers will encourage recommendations with substantial guidance or requirement on necessary resources to implement such recommendations. Also, the Organisers will try to include gender issue in the Discussion session and encourage the speakers to include gender-issue in their presentations.
The Post-event evaluation will help Organisers to assess the level of knowledge/capacity of participants regarding the topic. This Evaluation will help the Organizer to collect additional recommendations/suggestions from speakers and participants on promoting the relationship between trade and environment, especially emerging environmental issues on RTAs/FTAs.
The Workshop will gather various stakeholders such as trade and environment government officials, international organisations and business associations (for example WTO, UNEP, ASEAN, etc. as speakers) and researchers from APEC economies.
3) Summary ReportA summary report (minimum of 15 pages, excluding annexes) with outcomes and recommendations from the Workshop will be presented to CTI. Such report will include substantive content and be composed of the following, but not limited to, sections: introduction of the project; briefings of the presentations made at the Workshop, including best practices; briefings on discussions at the Workshop; summary of simulation exercise and outcomes (if conducted); suggested recommendations made by Workshop participants and the speakers. Participants will provide recommendations by 2 ways: (i) during discussions at the Workshop, (ii) at the Post–event Evaluation forms that are provided at the end of the Workshop.
Targeted audience of the summary report: project attendants, CTI and related APEC fora such as MAG, GOS, EWG, experts from trade and environment sector, policy-makers/ regulators in the trade and environment, especially those from APEC economies.
Purpose: summarise discussions and recommendations at the Workshop.
Outcomes1) Increased knowledge and awareness amongst participants regarding the relationship between trade and environment, especially emerging environmental issues in RTAs/FTAs and the suggestion of key policies, legal and regulatory settings needed relating to this topic. The participants are expected to gain a more in-depth understanding of relationship between trade and environment, especially emerging environmental issues in RTAs/FTAs through information and good practices sharing at the Workshop. Awareness level of participants will be measured by the Post-event evaluation; key policies, legal and regulatory settings will be made at Discussion session and written in the Summary report.
2) Participants’ increased interest in taking further action to coordinate and collaborate with stakeholders domestically to promote trade and protect environment in the APEC region, especially emerging environmental issues in RTAs/FTAs. In the short term, the organisers expect these stakeholders can integrate knowledge and information absorbed from the Workshop to apply in practice. Participants from developing economies will also have a chance to learn about good practices from APEC economies, from which they can draw lessons, experiences to apply in their economy. In medium and long term, the recommendations made at the workshop will be a resource/ reference guide for APEC economies to consider in developing policies at economy’s or APEC’s level. This outcome will be measured by question(s) in the Post – Event Evaluation form.
Beneficiaries1.Government officials and policy-makers, custom regulators, businesses from APEC economies, who are directly involved in both trade and environment or have experiences working with emerging environmental issues in Regional Trade Agreements/Free Trade Agreements (RTAs/FTAs). They may come from Department, Regulation body, Agencies in charge of trade and environment or Department, Regulatory body which works with emerging environmental issues in RTAs/FTAs.
- Skills and requirements: fluent in English, from junior to mid-level, working related to Trade and Environment or have experiences working with emerging environmental issues in Free Trade Agreements or Environment-related Agreements, for example: environmental goods and services, biodiversity and trade, climate change and trade, energy efficiency/renewable energy and trade, marine and fisheries.
2. Local and international experts from private sectors, business association in APEC region (participate as speakers).
3. Local and international experts from academic sector who has experiences in trade and environment, FTAs/RTAs.
The Second beneficiaries of the project:
Representatives from international/ regional organizations who work with APEC (for example World Bank, ASEAN, OECD, UNEP, etc.)
