Sustainability Map
GreenToCompete (G2C)
Activating green trade worldwide
The triple planetary crises of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, pollution and waste are impacting livelihoods around the world. Transitioning to a green and inclusive economy is the defining challenge of our time.
Trade can make an important contribution to advancing the climate and environment agenda while contributing to the prosperity of poor and marginalized communities.
Through GreenToCompete, ITC is reinforcing its commitment to trade that is climate resilient, fosters biodiversity and promotes production cycles that are truly circular. Through GreenToCompete, ITC is placing environmental sustainability at the heart of what ITC is and does.
GreenToCompete works with stakeholders across international value chains and in the business and policy ecosystems. We provide capacity building, business tools, thought leadership and a global network to support small businesses gain a competitive advantage by “going green”.
Our partner-led GreenToCompete Hubs support green transformation with a focus on national priorities and local ownership.
Sustainable Development Goals
<p>Green2Compete is ITC’s new and ambitious strategy aiming to place environmental sustainability at the heart of MSME competitiveness. Its goal is to enable MSMEs from developing countries to become more competitive through green production and trade. </p><p>In this context, Green2Compete will support ITC's ambition to deliver cutting-edge and innovative trade-related technical assistance and will develop ITC's positioning as a leading development partner in the green transition. It will also serve as an umbrella to ensure coherence among ITC's interventions in relation to the green transition.</p><p>This project will drive the implementation of the strategy along the following areas, namely: (1) establishment of a consistent corporate reporting mechanism,<span> </span>(2) mainstreaming of green competitiveness into ITC’s work, (3) development of innovative, new tools and approaches enabling MSMEs and related multipliers to benefit from a green transition, (4) engagement in dialogues and provision of inputs for a mutually supportive trade and environment agenda, and (5) partnerships and outreach to achieve scale.</p><p>This project sets out a work plan for the first year of the strategy, keeping in mind the overall strategic ambition in the long-term. </p>
Trade for Sustainable Development (T4SD)
Your roadmap to sustainable production, consumption and trade
The Trade for Sustainable Development (T4SD) Programme at the International Trade Centre is a partnership-based programme which empowers and equips micro, small and medium- sized enterprises (MSMEs) to improve their sustainability performance for better efficiency and international competitiveness.
The Programme does this through providing a global sustainability platform (scale), impactful partnerships (reach) and direct trade-related assistance to MSMEs (transformation) along two main intervention pillars: sustainability standards and social responsibility.
With our help, farmers are now able to certify their products as organic, and companies are learning how to become sustainable and are able to apply for green finance. Our resources also provide tools for businesses to assess their compliance against sustainability standards and potentially access preferential bank loans based on their sustainability score.
T4SD
Sustainable Development Goals
Business, trade and market intelligence: Trade for Sustainable Development (T4SD) database
Your roadmap to sustainable production, consumption and trade
The Trade for Sustainable Development (T4SD) Programme at the International Trade Centre is a partnership-based programme which empowers and equips micro, small and medium- sized enterprises (MSMEs) to improve their sustainability performance for better efficiency and international competitiveness.
The Programme does this through providing a global sustainability platform (scale), impactful partnerships (reach) and direct trade-related assistance to MSMEs (transformation) along two main intervention pillars: sustainability standards and social responsibility.
With our help, farmers are now able to certify their products as organic, and companies are learning how to become sustainable and can apply for green finance. Our resources also provide tools for businesses to assess their compliance against sustainability standards and potentially access preferential bank loans based on their sustainability score.
T4SD video
Sustainable Development Goals
<p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span lang="EN-GB">T4SD has become recognized as the go-to source of information on voluntary sustainability standards (VSS), with unique, detailed and user-friendly action oriented tools. VSS will continue to be the primary vehicle underpinning the shift towards sustainable value chains for private sector players, and the new sustainability regulation and legislative actions planned by governments will inevitably rely on these existing VSS/private initiatives. In</span> 2021 T4SD launched its 2022-2025 strategy which is aligned with ITC's new corporate strategy and as such contributes to ITC's objectives on trade and environmental sustainability. The T4SD strategy and programme approach is based on 'projects, platforms and partnerships' and aims to enable T4SD to become the global reference for trade and improved sustainability performance of SMEs. To achieve this, the T4SD programme will:</span></p><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Contribute to more supportive business ecosystem by providing cutting-edge knowledge on trade-related value chain sustainability requirements</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Empower MSMEs to meet sustainability requirements</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Drive VSS convergence and harmonization and optimize solutions with market partners; and </span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Influence international trade and sustainability frameworks</span></li></ul><p><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Underpinning these efforts is the 'core' of the T4SD programme, the T4SD global VSS database (Standards Map) as well as the online market linkages platform (Sustainability Map) that power the above four intervention areas. This project supports the maintenance, updating and further development of these Global Public Goods fulfilling ITC's commitment to provide transparency on VSS, as well as the related awareness-raising and capacity-building activities.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(97, 189, 109);">In 2023, T4SD activities under the project will be condensed, with a more prominent focus on the Global Public Goods, to reflect available resources. First, T4SD will continue implementing activities to ensure the continuity and quality of relevant standards data, the database, and its public interface. In addition, the project will increase awareness of VSS and drive convergence in VSS through publications, online tools, and enabling market partners and BSOs to support MSMEs. </span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(41, 105, 176);">In 2024, T4SD will focus on implementing the recommendations that spring from the recently-completed T4SD database evaluation. At the same time, T4SD will continue to ensure the continuity and quality of relevant standards data, the database, and its public interface. In addition, the project will increase awareness of VSS and drive convergence in VSS through publications, online tools, and enabling market partners and BSOs to support MSMEs. </span><span style="color: rgb(41, 105, 176);">T4SD will also build on the Standards Map and its industry networks to develop the "Sustainability Compact" in light of the changing sustainability landscape with the growing complexity of mandatory/regulatory sustainability measures. </span></p><p>The project's outcome is ultimately to support MSMEs to become more internationally competitive through adoption of sustainable practices and accessing new business opportunities. This will be achieved through four outputs, which are aligned with all four intermediate outcomes of the ITC's 2022-2025 strategic framework.</p>
Sustainability Map
Building transparency for a sustainable future
ITC’s Sustainability Map was designed to decentralize data and build more bridges between entities committed to sustainability.
Our Sustainability Map empowers micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) committed to sustainable production and processing to increase their business potential by:
- Gaining visibility towards potential buyers looking for sustainable products
- Creating an online profile and QR code to market their business globally
- Easily verifying the validity of their certifications
Our Sustainability Map also supports international brands in sustainable sourcing and verifying the validity of their partners’ certification claims by:
- Accessing trustworthy data and verifying suppliers’ sustainability claims
- Mapping and giving transparency to their supply chains
- Telling their sustainability story and strengthening their brand image to consumers
Our Sustainability Map decentralizes data and builds bridges between entities committed to sustainability by:
- Displaying certification and helping create a global public network of sustainable companies across sustainable initiatives
- Leveraging our unique identifier to take part in blockchain projects focusing on transparency and traceability
- Letting us take care of integrating data and updating it
Video
ITC’s Sustainability Map is a free online gateway that enables businesses to promote their sustainable practices, gain visibility in the international supply chain and connect to international buyers. Companies can easily create and manage online profiles and start to market their businesses.