Monitoring Offshore Environmental Impacts of Trade

‘O ffshore impacts’ are the environmental consequences of production and trade in places other than where these commodities are consumed. Consideration of such impacts in policy frameworks has emerged only recently. Frameworks to monitor overseas environmental impacts are critical to mitigating climate change and biodiversity loss but remain fragmented and underused. Key barriers relate to the coherence of these frameworks and governments’ capacity to facilitate their uptake. The G20, comprising the most significant trading nations, is in an unparalleled position to address these barriers through a small number of strategic interventions. This Policy Brief recommends that the G20 uses its influence to promote international awareness and uptake of existing frameworks and programmes, enhance data disclosure, build capacity in government organisations, and collaborate with other countries to develop and disseminate monitoring best practices.