Sustainable Development Archives

USCIB Supports Launch of Blue Dot Network to Strengthen Quality Infrastructure Investment 

Published on April 16, 2024
Whitney Baird at the OECD

USCIB President and CEO Whitney Baird spoke during the April 8-9 launch activities for the Blue Dot Network (BDN), a project certification framework that aims to strengthen quality infrastructure investment. The launch activities included a meeting of the Executive Consultation Group, a Leaders’ Dialogue, and the official launch ceremony.  

BDN will certify projects based on robust standards and criteria in economic, environmental, social, and other areas.  The certification applies to infrastructure projects across all major infrastructure sectors including energy, water and sanitation, transport and ICT. It can accommodate projects at different stages of the life cycle, from planning and preparation to construction and operations. Projects developed under a variety of ownership and delivery models (e.g. traditional procurement, public-private partnerships, privatized) can be certified. 

The Blue Dot Network will be hosted at the OECD, but remain an independent entity overseen by the initiative’s Steering Committee governments, currently Australia, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States.  

“There is the potential to make BDN a serious game changer in the infrastructure world. But private sector engagement and creativity is absolutely crucial to any success,” said Baird. “It will take all of us – developers, investors, governments, and communities – to make BDN a success, and we are counting on your support. USCIB is happy to be a part of this process.” 

Baird has been a long-time supporter of the BDN, even prior to her current role leading USCIB.  

“As Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Economic Bureau at the US Department of State, I led our BDN team in its work to develop this initiative,” added Baird. “I traveled, literally, all over the world because the US government believed, and I believed personally, that BDN, if done correctly, could answer a real need for a framework to allow project sponsors and public and private financial institutions to identify good infrastructure projects.” 

USCIB was also on hand for the OECD Infrastructure Forum, immediately following the launch. 

USCIB Submits Comments to UN Advisory Body on AI 

Published on April 2, 2024

USCIB has submitted a response to the United Nations Secretary General’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Advisory Board and its Interim Report: Governing AI for Humanity. This UN report calls for a closer alignment between international norms and how AI is developed and rolled out. The report also proposes to strengthen international governance of AI to reach the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals SDGs.  

USCIB’s response to the report emphasizes the need for a risk-based approach to address any potential negative impacts of AI. USCIB also highlights the potential of AI to address economic and societal inequalities that help realize the SDGs.  

“Many AI innovations have demonstrated great promise to enable economic development,” said USCIB Digital Policy Committee Chair JoAnn Stonier (Mastercard), “We appreciate that the report describes the essential opportunities that may be seized to achieve the SDGs, as well as some of the potential risks that must be addressed to realize these goals.  To ensure this developing science achieves maximum societal benefit, we will continue to look forward to providing commentary and input as the process evolves.”  

According to USCIB, a risk-based approach involves impact assessments of AI technology in the context of specific uses, applications, and scaled deployments, rather than the risk of the technology in the abstract. 

USCIB also cited the EU AI Act, the OECD’s AI Principles, and the US NIST AI Risk Management Framework (RMF) as having risk-based approaches. Importantly, this approach should be applied to both developers and deployers of AI systems while acknowledging that each group has different and distinct roles and responsibilities in AI governance. 

To view USCIB’s response to the UN Advisory Body on AI, please click here. 

USCIB Represents US Business at 6th Session of the UN Environment Assembly  

Published on March 6, 2024
Chris Olsen and Agnes Vinblad

The 6th Session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) concluded on March 1 in Nairobi, Kenya. After extensive and, at times, challenging negotiations, Parties adopted 15 resolutions, two decisions and a Ministerial Declaration. According to USCIB Director of Environment & Sustainable Development Agnes Vinblad, UNEA-6 outcomes advance work on further strengthening cooperation for national implementation of multilateral environmental agreements, the sound management of chemicals and waste, enhanced regional cooperation on air pollution, solutions for strengthening water policies, combatting land degradation and more.

As the highest decision-making body on the environment, UNEA decisions shape the global policy agenda across all Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs). This session of the Assembly was held under the theme “Effective, inclusive and sustainable multilateral actions to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution” with an overall focus on how to increase synergies between MEAs to solve the triple planetary crises.  

USCIB holds official observer status to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and has been active participants in the UNEA process since its inception in 2014. The USCIB delegation to UNEA-6 included Vinblad, USCIB Policy Manager for Trade & Regulation Chris Olsen and USCIB member company Enveda Biosciences’ Director of Policy and Development Tendai Chisow.

Joining over 5,600 people from across 190 countries at UN Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, USCIB advocated for constructive business considerations and engaged through the UNEP Business and Industry Major Group – the formal UNEP constituency group for business.  

“The strong outcomes from UNEA-6 yet again shows the critical importance of multilateralism,” said Vinblad. “In a world fraught by conflict and economic uncertainty, the ability of Member States to come together in agreement to work together towards solving some of our most urgent global challenges certainly sends a strong signal on the key role that Multilateral Environmental Agreements continues to play.”   

The 2024 Assembly also included the first ever MEA Day on February 28, which highlighted the role of agreements such as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement. 

The 13th WTO Ministerial Conference Falls Short But Delivers Some Wins for Industry

Published on March 5, 2024

Renewal of e-commerce moratorium and intellectual property rights secured

New York, N.Y., March 04, 2024—The United States Council for International Business (USCIB) welcomes outcomes from the WTO 13th Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi on two key objectives for U.S. industry: a two-year extension of the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions and a rejection of efforts to waive intellectual property protections for COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics.

“If the moratorium had expired it would have been an historic setback, representing an unprecedented termination of a multilateral agreement that has allowed the digital economy to take root and grow over the past 25 years,” said President and CEO Whitney Baird who represented USCIB at the ministerial last week. “USCIB is similarly pleased that the WTO failed to extend a TRIPS waiver to diagnostics and therapeutics, a move that would have undermined innovative industries, global health security and international rule of law.”

Another positive outcome, according to Baird, 72 nations officially adopted the Joint Statement Initiative on Services Domestic Regulation, simplifying rules for over 90 percent of the world’s trade in services. USCIB joined the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), for which it serves as the U.S. national committee, in welcoming the move. The agreement text had been concluded in December 2021. USCIB also hails progress at the WTO mapping out linkages and exploring best practices in consultation with industry on trade related aspects of circularity, climate, plastics and other policies aimed at advancing sustainability goals.

The outcomes in Abu Dhabi were mixed, however. USCIB is disappointed that MC13 failed to deliver agreements on agriculture, dispute settlement and fisheries, adding uncertainty to a multilateral trading system already under intense strain. “USCIB looks forward to working with the WTO to deliver outcomes in these sectors favorable to U.S. industry,” said Baird. “As the cornerstone for open, fair and reliable global trade, the WTO is too important to industry to fail.”

USCIB was on the ground in Abu Dhabi with a strong showing of member companies and the ICC, promoting robust digital and innovation safeguards, U.S. leadership on disciplines for sustainable trade, and enhanced roles for plurilateral negotiations and stakeholder engagement at the WTO.

About USCIB
USCIB promotes open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility, supported by international engagement and regulatory coherence.  Its members include U.S. based global companies and professional services firms from every sector of the economy, with operations in every region of the world, generating $5 trillion in annual revenues and employing over 11 million workers worldwide. As the U.S. affiliate to several leading international business organizations, including the ICC, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide and works to facilitate international trade and development. More at  www.uscib.org.

USCIB Issues 2024 Priorities and Recommendations for APEC

Published on February 29, 2024

USCIB has issued this year’s priorities and recommendations that USCIB and its members would like to see advanced in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). This annual priorities document reflects critical issue areas across USCIB’s primary workstreams related to APEC. USCIB has always been a longstanding and steadfast contributor to APEC workstreams and stands ready to provide business inputs to advance APEC goals and objectives for 2024 and beyond.   

APEC also reflects USCIB’s longstanding and guiding objectives of promoting open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility, supported by international engagement and regulatory coherence.  

“USCIB values the committed partnerships that APEC has established with the private sector to address the many economic opportunities available to foster greater integration between APEC’s member economies,” said USCIB Senior Vice President for Trade, Investment and Digital Policy Alice Slayton Clark. 

“We laud the excellent work accomplished during the 2023 U.S. APEC host year and look forward to an equally productive 2024, exploring new topics for outcomes and deliverables as Peru takes the helm,” added Clark.  

USCIB Meets with OECD to Share US Industry Accession Priorities 

Published on February 21, 2024

USCIB organized a member briefing on February 14 with OECD officials to discuss the accession process and to share USCIB Members’ market access concerns regarding the five accession candidates: Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Peru and Romania. USCIB also shared with the OECD officials an updated business priorities document, detailing industry concerns for each of the accession candidates. 

Members learned that the candidacies of Croatia, Bulgaria, Peru and Romania are most advance as they consider the accession process a national priority. According to USCIB Senior Vice President for Trade, Investment and Digital Policy Alice Slayton Clark, Brazil is taking a more cautious position, setting up a working group on OECD matters to determine how to approach accession. Interestingly, the new administration of Javier Milei in Argentina seems committed to moving forward with adoption of a roadmap for accession after putting the invitation on pause for the past two years. Finally, Thailand has requested to accede, and the OECD announced this week it is opening accession talks with Indonesia, a process that will take many years.     

It was made clear during this meeting that OECD accession provides powerful leverage for adoption of reforms in candidate countries, an opportunity for industry to resolve market access concerns. It is imperative to act early in this regard and provide detailed input that can be incorporated into market openness reports used to measure candidate country readiness.  

One main area of concern raised during the discussion was candidate country positioning on the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions, a question that will be considered at next week’s World Trade Organization (WTO) 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi. USCIB urged that all OECD members and accession candidates fully support the moratorium to be in alignment with OECD research, principles and best practices. 

Click here to download USCIB’s OECD Accession Priorities document. 

Cross-Atlantic Social Partners Convene to Discuss Jobs for a Green Transition 

Published on February 14, 2024
Ewa Staworzynska (USCIB)

The EU-U.S. Trade and Technology Council (TCC) held a workshop of the Transatlantic Initiative for Sustainable Trade (TIST), titled “Promotion of Good Quality Jobs for a Successful, Just and Inclusive Green Economy,” in Washington DC on January 30. The workshop focused on the promotion of good quality jobs for a successful, just and inclusive green transition. Organizations such as the the International Labor Organization (ILO), Business Europe, AFL-CIO, the European Trade Union Confederation and government agencies from both sides of the Atlantic provided perspectives during the meeting. 

USCIB Director for Corporate Responsibility and Labor Affairs Ewa Staworzynska gave remarks at the workshop, alongside USCIB members Lisa Schroeter (Dow) and Josh Connelly (LinkedIn). Connelly provided relevant data on workforce skilling and the gender gap, highlighting that women are disproportionally impacted by the green transition, due to the lack of parity in the market, especially in the green sector. 

Staworzynska spoke on the issue of supply chain transparency in the context of the green transition, underscoring that supply chain traceability is extremely complex, especially in higher tiers. “American companies have championed supply chain improvements globally, and we count on the U.S. government and the European Union to help sourcing countries tackle root causes of labor risks, such as poverty and informality,” she said. Staworzynska further highlighted that the just transition policies must take into account the realities faced by companies globally in order to be effective. 

“USCIB has had a longstanding engagement at the TCC,” said Staworzynska. “We look forward to highlighting the important work of our members, such as LinkedIn and Dow, and working with the EU and the U.S. to ensure a just and inclusive green transition.” 

Vinblad Speaks on Business and Biodiversity at Columbia University  

Published on February 12, 2024
L-R: Wendy Hapgood (Wild Tomorrow), Amy Karpati (Columbia University), Jenna Lawrence (Columbia University), Agnes Vinblad (USCIB), Matthias Pitkowitz (EQX Biome)

USCIB Director for Environment and Sustainable Development Agnes Vinblad was invited to participate in an expert panel organized by the Columbia University Climate School Earth Institute in New York City. The event was held under the title, “Solving the Biodiversity Crisis: Strategic & Interdisciplinary Approaches.” Discussions highlighted the importance of biodiversity considerations in sustainable business decisions with a focus on solution pathways and recent policy developments. 

Vinblad’s interventions focused on the international policy dimension and the role of incentivizing industrial policy in spurring and enabling private sector leadership on biodiversity protection. 

The panel was moderated by Wendy Hapgood, Co-founder and COO of Wild Tomorrow, a wildlife conservation non-profit organization dedicated to the protection, restoration and rewilding of threatened habitats to protect biodiversity. In addition to Vinblad, the panel included Amy Karpati, conservation biologist and adjunct professor at Columbia University, Jenna Lawrence, biodiversity specialist and researcher, and lecturer at the Climate School at Columbia University and Matthias Pitkowitz, founder and CEO of EQX Biome – a financial marketplace for nature-based investments.  

Agnes Vinblad

“This excellent discussion served as a great opportunity to speak about USCIB’s engagement in the UN CBD process, and our active participation in the negotiations leading up to the adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF),” said Vinblad.  

“Inevitably, a lot of the conversation centered on Target 15 of the GBF – this is the target that calls for legal, administrative or policy measures to encourage businesses to regularly monitor, assess and disclose their risks, dependencies and impacts on biodiversity. But we also touched upon many other of the targets, for example the conservation target – Target 3 – which seeks to conserve 30% of land, waters and seas by 2030,” she continued.  

USCIB holds official observer status to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UN CBD). This is the UN treaty under which matters pertaining to biodiversity are negotiated. Through this status, USCIB has been active participants in the UN CBD process for many years and Vinblad led a USCIB delegation to the historic UN CBD COP15 in December 2022 where the GBF was adopted.  

“A key point to note is that while the U.S. is not a Party to the UN CBD, we are seeing a continued increased interest from the U.S. business community to engage on biodiversity topics. One of the primary concerns I am hearing from business is the rapid rollout of numerous different biodiversity reporting standards and frameworks – a key priority for us now is to ensure harmonization to ease the administrative burden for business to free up resources for real implementation,” Vinblad added. 

UN CBD COP16 is scheduled to convene from October 21 to November 1 in Colombia this fall and deliberations will focus on the implementation phase of the GBF.  

USCIB Meets With OECD to Offer Business Perspectives for OECD’s US Economic Survey

Published on January 10, 2024

Representatives from the U.S. desk of the OECD’s Economics Department met with USCIB members and staff on January 8 to solicit business input into the next OECD United States Economic Survey. The OECD typically conducts these economic reviews every two years to assess the macroeconomic and structural policy challenges facing economies and offer recommendations.

A robust group of USCIB members participated in the meeting including Rick Johnston (Citi), Jerry Cook (Hanesbrands), Carolina Costa (RELX), Elizabeth Tate (Albright Stonebridge Group) and Cristian Rodriguez-Chiffelle (Boston Consulting Group). They discussed early findings from the OECD analysts that the United States will be experiencing a soft landing with weak economic growth expected in 2024, with GDP project at 1.5 percent, unemployment over 4 percent and abatement of inflationary pressures and wage growth. This led to a conversation about business outlooks on U.S. industrial policies (e.g. CHIPS Act), China trade policy and the impact of tariffs, U.S. retreat from economic globalization, economic security and reduced business voice in economic policy debates.

“As always, USCIB greatly appreciates the opportunity to meet with representatives from the OECD,” said Senior VP for Policy and Global Strategy Norine Kennedy. “As the sole U.S. representative to Business at OECD (BIAC), USCIB is in a unique position to offer invaluable U.S. business perspectives. We are committed to this important analysis and work of the OECD in providing well-informed recommendations to the U.S. government.”

OECD Surveys aim to promote a better understanding of a given country’s economic situation, identify the key challenges facing that country’s authorities and provide recommendations to improve the country’s overall economic performance.

 

USCIB Represents U.S. Business at UN Meetings on Climate (COP28)

Published on December 21, 2023
USCIB President and CEO Whitney Baird (left) moderates a panel during a US Chamber side event

The 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) was gaveled to a close in the late afternoon on December 13 in Dubai, UAE.  

As at all prior Climate COPs in history, USCIB participated actively throughout the two weeks of the conference, constructively advocating for the importance of business inclusion in the UNFCCC process, while closely following the negotiations on a set of key agenda items, including the Global Stocktake, the Just Transition Work Programme and others. The USCIB delegation was headed by USCIB Policy Manager for Environment and Sustainable Development Agnes Vinblad. In addition, USCIB President and CEO Whitney Baird, and USCIB Senior Vice President Norine Kennedy joined Vinblad on the ground for parts of the conference. 

USCIB came to COP28 to support a strong, forward looking political outcome of the first-ever Global Stocktake, setting the stage for robust next-round NDCs that will enable the private sector to serve as core implementation partners and leaders.  

Set against the backdrop of global geopolitical uncertainty, the COP28 Presidency had an immense challenge ahead of them in facilitating a successful process with a strong outcome. Despite these concerns, this year’s Climate COP managed to bring multiple key outcomes and commitments. 

At the conclusion of COP28, 198 Parties agreed on the Dubai package called the “UAE Consensus” – the 23 page Global Stocktake outcome document, encompassing a historical decision on the Loss and Damage fund, the Mitigation Work Programme, Just Transition Work Programme, and unprecedented language pertaining to fossil fuel energy and recognizing the need to, “transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner.” 

According to Vinblad, this is the first time in nearly three decades of global climate change conferences, that the COP outcome text includes language on transitioning away from fossil fuels. It is important to recognize that the decision text further references the role of transition fuels, technological solutions such as carbon capture and storage, and the need to ensure energy security.  

“While there are clear gaps in the final decision text, COP28 is already being referred to as one of the most critical UN climate change conferences to date, especially with the conclusion of the very first Global Stocktake,” said Vinblad. “The UAE Consensus makes clear the importance to include all actors in society – including business – to be able to move at the scale and pace needed to speed up mitigation and adaptation efforts, while strengthening resilience and putting a stronger focus on climate finance.” 

COP29 will be hosted in Baku, Azerbaijan and has been dubbed the “finance COP” as governments will have to agree on a new climate finance goal, with the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) being up for decision.