Development and building trade capacity
Foreword
Making trade work for women goes to the core of the WTO’s purpose because women’s economic empowerment is central to achieving the WTO’s founding objectives of raising living standards, creating jobs and promoting sustainable development.
The role of regional governance on shaping trade and gender nexus policy in the pandemic and recovery: Asia-Pacific practices and perspectives
The COVID-19 pandemic caused challenges to public health systems and disruptions in international trade and society. This chapter will highlight the role of regional governance in complementing international governance in responding to global crises and addressing gender issues. The discussion concentrates on the Asia-Pacific region, including responses by individual economies and the regional organizations the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The findings show that policy measures responding to the pandemic are progressing dynamically. While policies are primarily concerned with the strength of public health systems and the stability of economic and social situations initially, they will focus on answering specific groups’ needs, including women’s challenges, at a later stage. Besides, comparing the actions between ASEAN and APEC indicates the difference in the governance approach to the trade and gender nexus; that is, the human rights-based versus the economic and technical cooperation (ECOTECH)-oriented approaches. Accordingly, this chapter argues that policy priority and institutional structure are crucial elements behind the diversity of regional governance on gender issues in the Asia Pacific. Finally, it suggests that the experiences of Asia-Pacific regional governance facilitate the understanding of dimensional and cross-cutting gender issues and provide insights into international governance of the trade and gender nexus.
Gender equality, trade and the World Trade Organization
Scientific research reaffirms the importance of making trade gender inclusive and demonstrates that accelerating the gender responsiveness of trade policies improves gender equality in trade, supports poverty reduction and fosters sustainable growth.
Entrepreneurial responses to COVID-19: gender, digitalization and adaptive capacity
Women entrepreneurs were hit disproportionately hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, as their firms are generally younger, smaller and concentrated in industry sectors affected the most by economic shutdowns. However, very little research has addressed the ways in which women-led firms navigated these challenges. In this study, we investigate the ways in which women entrepreneurs adapted to the business repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, we focus on the implementation of digital tools as a viable instrument for building adaptive capacity.
Assessing the potential of trade policy reform for closing gender wage gaps
On average, female workers receive a lower wage than male workers. In this chapter, we analyse the potential contribution of trade policy reform to a reduction in this gender wage gap. We first establish four stylized facts: (i) tariffs are on average higher in more female labour-intensive sectors; (ii) trade costs are on average larger in female labour-intensive services than in goods; (iii) services trade restrictiveness is higher in more female labour-intensive services; (iv) trade costs associated with the need for face-to-face interaction are larger in female labour-intensive sectors.
Gender mainstreaming in trade agreements: “A Potemkin Façade”?
The distributional outcomes of trade agreements have historically been uneven, creating both “losers” and “winners” and benefiting certain stakeholders while leaving others without benefits or even with negative repercussions. In particular, distributional outcomes can vary between women and men, since they play different roles in society, markets and economies, and they enjoy different opportunities as well. At times, and sometimes by their very nature, trade agreements can restrict opportunities for women and further increase the gender divide. But in recent years, there has been a drastic upsurge in the number of countries that are incorporating commitments on gender equality in their trade agreements.
Gender equality and women’s empowerment in the African Continental Free Trade Area: What lessons can be learnt from the SADC?
The Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA Agreement), which has been signed by 54 out of the 55 African countries, seeks to create a single continental market for goods and services and facilitate the free movement of people on the continent thereby enhancing the competitiveness of intra-African trade and boosting intra-African trade. This will generate employment and improve the welfare of mostly young men and women on the continent. However, whilst the AfCFTA Agreement, under Article 3(e), emphasizes that one of the general objectives of the AfCFTA is to promote gender equality, experiences in other African regional economic communities have proven that gender and gender equality have not been adequately mainstreamed in implementing free trade areas, which has resulted in gender inequalities in international trade and commerce. As a result of this, the majority of women have been left marginalized in trade and faced with serious challenges in accessing opportunities created by regional trade agreements.
Acknowledgements
This publication is one of the outcomes of the 2022 World Trade Congress on Gender – the first research conference on trade and gender to be held internationally. The Congress was organized by the WTO Trade and Gender Office and the WTO Gender Research Hub, with the cooperation of the Development Division, the Administration and General Services Division, the Information and External Relations Division, and the Office of the Director-General.
Negotiating towards a tailor-made gender protocol under the AfCFTA: Could integrating Africa’s fragmented gender chapters be the key?
Recently, the understanding that enhanced intra-regional trade among African countries could be a powerful tool in accelerating economic growth, development and poverty reduction on the continent has led African leaders to place considerable importance on regional integration (Brenton et al., 2013). However, tapping into the benefits of intra-African trade requires careful attention to inclusivity issues in ensuring both men and women benefit and participate equally in regional economic integration (Bussolo and and De Hoyos, 2009). The decision by African heads of state to negotiate a separate Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade under the newly implemented African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement reaffirms the belief that improving women’s access to opportunities and removing barriers to their participation in international economies contributes to economic development.
Annex
This annex provides a comprehensive, but non-exhaustive, list of quality infrastructure elements for green hydrogen (GH2) that should be implemented, according to an Expert Survey for IRENA’s ongoing project “Quality Infrastructure for Green Hydrogen: technical standards and quality control for the production and trade of renewable hydrogen”.
Acknowledgements/Abbreviations
This publication has been prepared under the overall guidance of Aik Hoe Lim of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Roland Roesch of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
International Trade and Green Hydrogen
Supporting the global transition to a low-carbon economy
Hydrogen produced exclusively from renewable power – known as green hydrogen – is widely recognised as a key pillar in replacing fossil fuels and decarbonizing sectors that cannot easily be electrified, such as some industrial processes, shipping and aviation. This publication – jointly produced by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) – explores how trade policies can support the development of green hydrogen markets. The publication highlights in particular how lowering tariffs on key products, building reliable infrastructure, realigning domestic support programmes and developing green government procurement can foster the development of green hydrogen supply chains and the transition to a low-carbon economy. International trade could also play a significant role in matching supply and demand for green hydrogen, as the potential for domestic production in some economies might not be enough to satisfy domestic demand. The publication also addresses the challenges and opportunities for developing economies offered by green hydrogen and its derivatives, such as green methanol and green ammonia. It underscores the importance of international cooperation and the need to align regulatory frameworks to encourage technology development, enhanced transparency and market growth.
Mapping supply chain issues from a trade perspective
Green hydrogen has a number of uses. It can be used directly as an energy carrier and chemical input in multiple end-use applications. It can also be combined with a sustainable carbon source or with nitrogen, to produce derivative compounds such as methanol or ammonia, which can be used as feedstock for chemical production (e.g., plastics and fertilizers) or as sustainable fuels.