UNCTAD Transport Newsletter

UNCTAD
Nº53 - First Quarter 2012

Content

• Upcoming conference: Thirteenth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
• (UNCTAD XIII), 21‐26 April 2012, Doha, Qatar
• Ministerial Conference on Transport at ESCAP, Second Session, 12‐16 March 2012 Bangkok, Thailand: Asia‐
• Pacific nations reaffirm their commitment to efficient, reliable and safe transport infrastructure and
• services
• Newly published "Liability and Compensation for Ship‐Source Oil Pollution: An Overview of the International
• Legal Framework for Oil Pollution Damage from Tankers", UNCTAD Studies in Transport Law and Policy
• Newly published "Trade Facilitation in Regional Trade Agreements", from the UNCTAD Transport and Trade
• Facilitation Series
• UNCTAD project launched to develop Implementation Plans for an eventual WTO Trade Facilitation
• Agreement in several countries
• UNCTAD Case Study ‐ How to utilize FDI to improve transport infrastructure (Ports) ‐ Lessons from Nigeria
• The Low Carbon Shipping (LCS) Consortium
• Upcoming events under the UNCTAD Port Training Programme
• UNCTAD Technical Notes on Trade Facilitation now in Spanish
• Trade Facilitation as an Early Harvest under the WTO Doha Round
• Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) Toolkit for PPPs
• OSCE‐UNECE Handbook of Best Practices at Border Crossings
• Data Harmonization and Modelling Guide  for Single Window Environment
• Training Programmes on Trade Facilitation and Rules of Origin during 2012 and 2013
• Globalization and Transport
• Oil Spill Risk Management 2011
• Measuring and Managing CO2 Emissions of European Chemical Transport
• Time as a Trade Barrier
• TransFarm Africa Initiative ‐ Removing the Barriers to African agricultural production, Tanzania Case study
• All About Shipping
• Policy Analysis of Complex Transport Systems, 2‐7 June 2012, Azores, Portugal
• PortExecutive Seminar, 28‐29 June 2012, Marseilles, France
• Maritime Public Leaders’ Programme, 15‐23 October 2012, Singapore
• Intelligent Mobility – thinking about  tomorrow’s transport

Bajar documento

Transport, trade and climate change: Carbon footprints, fuel subsidies and market-based measures

Joachim Monkelbaan
International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development - BMZ
Working paper
November 2011

International transport, be it by ship, airplane, train or truck, is essential for international trade and to global economic development. However, transport is at the same time the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The objective of this paper is to examine the viability and potential effects of different actions that Germany and the European Union (EU) can take to curb the growth of GHG emissions from the international transport sector. It analyzes different options that policy makers have available to reduce transport induced emissions. In doing so, this paper takes the impacts on trade, especially for developing countries, into account. The overarching question that is reverberates throughout this paper is: what are the advantages and disadvantages of different measures that Germany and the EU can take to limit emissions from trade-related transport?

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Plus: Annex I: Carbon footprint of some chilean exports

Climate risk and business: Ports

IFC
April 2011

Physical infrastructure at ports and port activities may be highly vulnerable to changes in climate. For instance, the risks could manifest through changes in the level or patterns of shipping, increased flooding affecting movements within ports and causing damage to goods stored, reduced navigability of access channels and business interruption. Some ports will also see opportunities as a result of climate change. A port’s reputation for reliability is key to its success, so ports that are more resilient to disruption from climate events should fare better. Changes in trade flows driven by climate change will also see winners and losers. To understand the significance of these risks for a given port, this study assesses risks and opportunities for ports in general, and specifically for IFC’s client, Terminal Marítimo Muelles el Bosque (MEB), in Cartagena, Colombia.

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Climate change: turning costs into income opportunities

UNCTAD Policy Briefs #9
December 2009

Concerns about the high costs of climate change mitigation dominate the global debate to be resumed at Copenhagen. The question of who is to pay for the investments that will undoubtedly be needed receives far greater attention than the corollary question of who is to gain from them. From a macroeconomic perspective, one economic agent’s cost is always another agent’s income. But as this policy brief argues, the concept of cost is misleading in the context of climate change mitigation. Once the process of structural change necessitated by climate change mitigation is in full swing, there will be huge new market opportunities.

The policy issue is: how will costs and incomes be distributed in this process? UNCTAD believes that developing countries, although they face considerable costs, can also generate new income if they adapt their development strategies to the requirements of climate change mitigation. This policy brief also stresses the role of government in facilitating the process of structural change, not only by fostering “green” consumer preferences, but also by implementing pro-active industrial policies that support the production of climate-friendly equipment and appliances. In short: The world can move to a low-carbon economy without feeling paralysed by the costs – and can do so without sacrificing growth in the developing world.

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UNCTAD Transport Newsletter

No. 43
Second and Third Quarters 2009
UNCTAD

Content:

• Repository of trade facilitation working groups
• Liner shipping connectivity in 2009
• Dry ports
• Computerization of the TIR procedure
• ASYCUDA updates
• Trilingual Vocabulary of Intelligent Transportation Systems
• Structural factors underlying mergers and acquisitions in liner shipping
• West Africa road transport corruption reports
• Datamar
• UNCTAD’s Port Training Programme initiates classes in Latin American countries
• Future Challenges for the Port and Shipping Sector
• Port Economics
• Port Competition
• Trends in the Transport Sector
• International Transport Forum
• Workshop on Euro-Asian Transport Links
• The Global Institute of Logistics
• Asia–Pacific Trade Facilitation Forum 2009
• Supply Chain Security
• International Association of Maritime Economists
• Overcoming Border Bottlenecks: The Costs and Benefits of Trade Facilitation
• United Nations Layout Key for trade documents
• Global Transport Knowledge Partnership
• What constraints Africa’s exports?
• Workshop on Harmonization Convention
• Integrated scenario on transport
• Online Harmonized Commodities Code database
• UNECE Transport Review
• Ad Hoc Expert Meeting on Transit Ports Servicing Landlocked Developing
• Countries
• Public and private partnerships for the development of infrastructure to facilitate
• Trade and transport

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Maritime Transport and the Climate Change Challenge

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
16–18 February 2009, Geneva
Multi-Year Expert Meeting on Transport and Trade Facilitation:
Maritime Transport and the Climate Change Challenge
UNCTAD
December 2009

To support global efforts and to help "deliver as one" under the United Nations-wide system, the meeting provides a platform for informal discussions on how best to address the climate change challenge from a maritime transport perspective, while bearing in mind issues of interest to developing countries.

Key issues to be discussed include:

• Greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping;
• Implications of climate change for shipping and transport infrastructure: the need for adaptation;
• Mitigation and adaptation options for ships and ports;
• The current state of play in terms of the relevant regulatory and institutional framework; and
• Cross-cutting issues, such as financing and investment, technology and energy security.

Event site

Summary of proceedings

Report of the meeting

Papers and presentations

Access the audio of the conference

Increasing the energy efficiency of supply chains

McKinsey Quarterly
August 2009



The supply chains of many manufacturing sectors went global when oil was cheap; today, improving energy efficiency is a top concern for executives. This interactive shows numerous opportunities to dramatically reduce energy costs in supply chains.

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Especial interactivo

Turning Carbon into Gold: How the international community can finance climate change adaptation without breaking the bank

OXFAM
December 2008

Recognizing that poor communities in developing countries are the least responsible for climate change but most vulnerable to its impacts, the Bali Action Plan calls for ‘new and additional resources’ and ‘innovative finance mechanisms' to address urgent climate adaptation needs. Oxfam suggests that new financing mechanisms linked to emissions reduction regimes could be the way forward in the post-2012 climate negotiations and yield the minimum of $50 billion per year necessary for adaptation needs in developing countries.

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America’s Container Ports: Freight Hubs That Connect Our Nation to Global Markets

U.S. Department of Transportation - Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA)
June 2009



This report provides an overview of the movement of maritime freight handled by the nation’s container seaports in 2008 and summarizes trends in maritime freight movement since 1995. It covers the impact of the recent U.S. and global economic downturn on U.S. port container traffic, trends in container throughput, concentration of containerized cargo at the top U.S. ports, regional shifts in cargo handled, vessel calls and capacity in ports, the rankings of U.S. ports among the world’s top ports, and the number of maritime container entries into the United States relative to truck and rail containers. The report also presents snapshots of landside access to container ports, port security initiatives, and ongoing maritime environmental issues.

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Trade and Climate Change

UNEP & WTO
June 2009



The WTO/UNEP report on "Trade and Climate Change" examines the intersections between trade and climate change from four perspectives: the science of climate change; economics; multilateral efforts to tackle climate change; and national climate change policies and their effect on trade.

The Report aims to improve understanding about the linkages between trade and climate change. It shows that trade intersects with climate change in a multitude of ways. For example, governments may introduce a variety of policies, such as regulatory measures and economic incentives, to address climate change. This complex web of measures may have an impact on international trade and the multilateral trading system.

The Report begins with a summary of the current state of scientific knowledge on climate change and on the options available for responding to the challenge of climate change. The scientific review is followed by a part on the economic aspects of the link between trade and climate change, and these two parts set the context for the subsequent parts of the Report, which look at the policies introduced at both the international and national level to address climate change.

The part on international policy responses to climate change describes multilateral efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the effects of climate change, and also discusses the role of the current trade and environment negotiations in promoting trade in technologies that aim to mitigate climate change.

The final part of the Report gives an overview of a range of national policies and measures that have been used in a number of countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to increase energy efficiency. It presents key features in the design and implementation of these policies, in order to draw a clearer picture of their overall effect and potential impact on environmental protection, sustainable development and trade. It also gives, where appropriate, an overview of the WTO rules that may be relevant to such measures.

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