Business, trade and market intelligence: Trade for Sustainable Development (T4SD) database

Summary

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 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:

• Contribute to more supportive business ecosystem by providing cutting-edge knowledge on trade-related value chain sustainability requirements
• Empower MSMEs to meet sustainability requirements
• Drive VSS convergence and harmonization and optimize solutions with market partners; and 
• Influence international trade and sustainability frameworks

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.

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. 

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. 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.   

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.