{"id":359395,"date":"2025-09-18T13:41:31","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T08:11:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/?p=359395"},"modified":"2025-09-18T13:41:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T08:11:31","slug":"digitalizing-administrative-trade-procedures-could-reduce-carbon-emissions-new-report-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/digitalizing-administrative-trade-procedures-could-reduce-carbon-emissions-new-report-shows\/","title":{"rendered":"Digitalizing Administrative Trade Procedures Could Reduce Carbon Emissions, New Report Shows\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>New analysis across 10 countries reveals that digitalizing phytosanitary certificates for exporting plant products can cut the carbon footprint of trade paperwork by an average of 8.4 kg CO\u2082 equivalent per certificate.<\/li>\n<li>Since 2018, the UN IPPC\u2019s ePhyto solution has saved an estimated 64,300 tonnes of CO\u2082, equivalent to the annual carbon absorption of 2.9 million trees.<\/li>\n<li>Broader emissions reduction benefits of trade facilitation and process digitalization are expected to rise, with numbers projected to reach 145,000 tonnes of CO<sub>2<\/sub>\u00a0by 2027 as more countries adopt the ePhyto solution.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Geneva, Switzerland, 17 September 2025\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 Digitalizing trade documents can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of trade processes, according to a new study by the\u00a0Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation. The study, released ahead of the Sustainable Development Impact Meetings 2025, highlights that shifting from paper to electronic documents in international trade offers a practical way to contribute to achieving climate goals.<\/p>\n<p>The report,\u00a0<em>Move Goods, Not Paper: Carbon impacts of digitalizing trade procedures \u2013 evidence from the ePhyto case<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/weforum.us3.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=6308fe51b420dc9ff3834abc8&amp;id=f76d633265&amp;e=0cfb6a6636\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/weforum.us3.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u%3D6308fe51b420dc9ff3834abc8%26id%3Df76d633265%26e%3D0cfb6a6636&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1758257945133000&amp;usg=AOvVaw03UK2af-xEE8sqJzwZQ9FA\">,<\/a> analyses the adoption of electronic phytosanitary certificates (ePhyto) in 10 countries: Cameroon, Ecuador, Fiji, Jordan, Madagascar, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Thailand &amp;\u00a0Togo.<\/p>\n<p>Focusing on administrative trade procedures, and comparing the carbon footprint of paper-based versus digitalized processes, the report suggests that digitalizing trade paperwork delivers modest but measurable reductions in carbon emissions. Since 2018, the United Nations International Plant Protection Convention ePhyto solution \u2013\u00a0 one of the most reliable and globally standardized digital trade tools \u2013 has saved an estimated 64,300 tonnes of CO<sub>2<\/sub>\u00a0equivalent, comparable to the annual carbon absorption of 2.9 million trees. Yet, only about 5% of global phytosanitary certificates \u2013one of the many documents used in international trade \u2013 are digital, indicating the potential for further impact.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis study shows that trade facilitation can play a meaningful role in climate action,\u201d said <strong>Philippe Isler, Director of the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation.<\/strong> \u201cBy modernizing trade processes through digitalization, we can lower costs for businesses and governments while also creating opportunities to support CO\u2082 emissions reduction. This is one of the reasons why the alliance is working to expand its involvement in delivering impactful IT solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The report indicates that each electronic phytosanitary certificate reduces the carbon footprint by an average of 8.4 kgCO2e. It also reveals that the carbon emission reductions can vary significantly between the countries as shown in the graph below. The main source of emissions reduction comes from eliminating the need for traders to submit and collect paperwork in person, which accounts for 73% of total savings. The physical travel includes the movement to government offices, often involving long distances and multiple trips. Additional benefits include reduced paper and printing, fewer courier shipments and faster, more reliable, trade processes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"CToWUd a6T\" tabindex=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/ci3.googleusercontent.com\/meips\/ADKq_NZtm_wyxhMB5LJLLmEIFZgZzOVx0sWaVi-o64mlf3qz0N_2ehji-v9bLjLEkI1UmbrdJ7g1NTnu3HCCndhwhpN3SHzc-WQc98bId7-fLzK6c8_TXLOX3WcZNQqBk5Qm2yy_pXtf8X6ehDoTJYGJsXvBpbC8-4ZW0RI=s0-d-e1-ft#https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/6308fe51b420dc9ff3834abc8\/images\/e6d005e3-5c58-a116-b975-e7a04a698285.jpg\" width=\"700\" height=\"372\" data-bit=\"iit\" \/><strong>Estimated carbon emissions savings by adopting the ePhyto, by country (in kgCO<sub>2<\/sub>e\/certificate)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cDigitalizing trade documents is a practical, scalable way to mitigate emissions and make global trade more sustainable,\u201d said the report\u2019s lead author, Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Trinh Tan, Lead, Metrics and Benchmarking, Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation, World Economic Forum.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The report\u2019s co-author, Laura Gerl, Specialist, Metrics and Benchmarking, Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation, World Economic Forum, added:<\/strong> \u201cHowever, we are likely underestimating the true impact of ePhyto on carbon emissions. We have evidence that digitalization can also improve logistical efficiency and reduce losses for perishable goods; we simply do not have reliable data to measure it for now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If current growth continues, the ePhyto solution could save 145,000 tonnes of CO\u2082 by 2027. The study underscores the importance of scaling up digital trade solutions to advance sustainability and climate objectives, even when environmental benefits are not the primary driver for reform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New analysis across 10 countries reveals that digitalizing phytosanitary certificates for exporting plant products can cut the carbon footprint of trade paperwork by an average of 8.4 kg CO\u2082 equivalent per certificate. Since 2018, the UN IPPC\u2019s ePhyto solution has saved an estimated 64,300 tonnes of CO\u2082, equivalent to the annual carbon absorption of 2.9 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14083],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-359395","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-technology-industry-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359395\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyforyou.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}