Internationalisation Monitor 2023, second edition – Sustainable trade?

Trade and sustainability is a complex and topical issue. The majority of Dutch people are concerned about climate change. The EU, and the Netherlands in particular, is a major trader in goods and services. Although international trade almost always leads to greenhouse gas emissions (e.g. in transport), trade policy can encourage more sustainable trade. For example, trade agreements or measures can ensure that polluting production in the Netherlands is not moved elsewhere, where sustainability guidelines are less stringent. Finally, through international trade, environmentally friendly goods can be produced on a larger scale and distributed globally.

In this Internationalisation Monitor, we therefore look at different aspects of sustainability and trade to explore the complex relationship between the two. Based on a number of sustainability classifications, what does trade in environmentally friendly and polluting goods look like, and what are the imports of those goods used for? What role do sustainable provisions play in trade agreements and do they impact the composition and volume of Dutch goods trade? Finally, we look at the import footprint at product and country level for the first time in this Internationalisation Monitor.

The Internationalisation Monitor describes trends in internationalisation and their consequences for the Dutch economy and society. It is published three times a year as part of CBS’ Globalisation development and publication programme, which is commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The aim of the research programme on Globalisation is to arrive at new insights in the field of globalisation in order to contribute to practices, policymaking and science. At the core of this approach is the integration of a wide range of sources and already available microdata, combined with the application of advanced statistical methods such as I/O analysis. The ensuing results, i.e. newly developed statistics and accompanying analyses, are published in the Internationalisation Monitor.