On 8-10 December 2020, TULIP advisory board member Patrick Low and Director Colette van der Ven taught a training workshop for Guyanese officials on trade and green industrial policies. The workshop, spanning across a duration of 3 days, was jointly organised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) under the umbrella of the Partnership for Action on a Green Economy (PAGE), with support from the University of Guyana.
The workshop was designed with the objective of building technical knowledge and skills related to the design, implementation and evaluation of public policy at the trade and industrial policy nexus, thus supporting participants in the achievement of the national sustainability objectives.
The workshop brought to light both opportunities but also challenges associated with embarking on a green journey. Key issues that were discussed included: how to build a green economy in the shadow of Guyana's discovery of extensive offshore oil and gas reserves; the dual environmental and economic rationales for a country like Guyana, with negligible CO2 emissions, to invest in green industries; the types of parameters to use to determine what industries to prioritize; advantages and disadvantages of using different types of trade policies to advance a green economy, including subsidies, tariffs, and standards; and how to leverage existing trade agreements, including CARICOM and the EU-CARIFORM Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) to support green industries.
Through a series of Guyana-specific case studies, the workshop participants were invited to apply the various concepts introduced to specific challenges.
