Remove trade barriers to meet green goals, World Energy Council says
Tearing down barriers to trade and investment in energy would help countries meet their green goals, the World Energy Council has said.
The UN-accredited body believes this would speed up the creation of a lower-carbon energy system. It would help countries obtain cheaper, more secure and more sustainable power generation.
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It urged countries to consider an wide-ranging initiative to phase out non-tariff barriers such as rules of origin regulations, which affect 80 to 90 per cent of trade. It added environmental goods represent a trade market of $1 trillion (£769bn).
Non-tariff barriers are only just starting to be addressed within the World Trade Organisation rules and appear to be limited.
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Christoph Frei, secretary-general of the World Energy Council, said: “Addressing the energy trilemma presents extraordinary challenges for policymakers and requires an adequate global trade and investment regime."
"This would encourage and leverage investment, innovation and technology uptake, to meet the climate and energy objectives set by the United Nations, G20 and COP 21.”