Switzerland and the Commodities Trade - Taking Stock and Looking Ahead
This factsheet outlines key challenges, knowledge gaps, and research questions centring on Switzerland’s role and potential responsibility as a leading commodity hub. It concludes with suggestions of possible avenues for future research and policy.
Switzerland has recently emerged as one of the world’s most important hubs in the global trade of commodities. But its rise has been accompanied by concerns about transparency, appropriate regulation, and risks to resource-exporting developing countries. A growing body of evidence points not only to beneficial, but also to harmful effects of commodities trading and extraction on resource-exporting poor countries. These include risks of undiversified economic development, political corruption, environmen- tal damage, and human rights violations.
However, there is a profound lack of scientific research on the role of major commodity hubs like Switzerland, where vital commodities such as oil, metals, and grains are traded and extractive companies are headquartered. Could policy changes in Switzerland make the commodity sector more sustainable and its impact more mutually beneficial?
This factsheet was jointly conducted by the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) of the University of Bern, the World Trade Institute (WTI) of the University of Bern, and the Institute for Business Ethics (IWE) of the University of St. Gallen.
The factsheet was written in the context of the project “Global change and developing countries: why should we care?” managed by the KFPE and the Forum for Climate and Global Change (ProClim).
Dichiarazione Pagina: 1-6
Temi associati
KFPE was co-organiser of this event, taking place 20 September 2016. The event was meant to provide an overview and stimulate dialogue about potential courses of action and solutions at both international and national level, while also providing different stakeholders (science, industry, NGOs and Members of Parliament) with an opportunity to share their views.
Diese Veranstaltung der Akademien zeigt Hintergründe, präsentiert nationale und internationale Lösungsansätze und diskutiert brennende Fragen.
On 21 April 2015, a group of scholars and stakeholders discussed research gaps in the field of commodities and trade at an academic workshop.
Swiss Academies Factsheets
- Apports excessifs d’azote et de phosphore nuisent à la biodiversité, aux forêts et aux eaux
- Biodiversity damaging subsidies in Switzerland
- How can local populations be won over to protected areas?
- Gene Drive: vantaggi, rischi e possibili applicazioni
- Selezione vegetale – dall’incrocio classico all’editing genomico
- Small state, big companies
- Variety is the source of life
- Opportunités et conséquences d’une taxe d’incitation sur le CO2 prélevée sur les carburants
- Instruments pour une politique climatique et énergétique efficace
- Biodiversity, a guarantee of health?
- Open Science in Switzerland: Opportunities and Challenges
- L’importance nationale des collections suisses de sciences naturelles
- Governance of regional development
- Reverse emissions or influence solar radiation: Is “geoengineering” worthwhile, feasible and if so, at what price?
- Wildlife and humans in outdoor recreational areas near cities
- New approaches for protecting potatoes against late blight
- L'acqua in Svizzera
- Il clima svizzero sotto i riflettori
- Outdoor Sports Infrastructure Planning – Hiking and Mountain Biking
- Ozone et smog estival: les changements climatiques menacent les succès d’aujourd’hui
- Factsheet «New plant breeding techniques for Swiss agriculture – significant potential, uncertain future»
- Stratégie énergétique et santé – ce dont il faudra tenir compte pour la mise en œuvre de la Stratégie énergétique 2050
- Making the Commodity Sector Work for Developing Countries - Local Impacts, Global Links, and Knowledge Gaps
- Switzerland and the Commodities Trade - Taking Stock and Looking Ahead
- Health and global change in an interconnected world - Concerns and responsibilities for Switzerland
- Harmoniser la politique énergétique et la protection du climat avec la qualité de l'air
- A Focus on fracking
- Parchi svizzeri e il valore aggiunto del turismo
- Abeilles et autres pollinisateurs: importance pour l'agriculture et la biodiversité (2014)
- Le piante geneticamente modificate e il loro significato per l’agricoltura svizzera
- Environmental changes and migration in developing countries
- Les Alpes envahies par l’aulne vert (2013)
- Food security for a planet under pressure – and the challenges for Switzerland
- Mountains, a priority for a planet under pressure and for Switzerland
- Water security for a planet under pressure – and the consequences for Switzerland
- Biodiversité et services écosystémiques à l'échelle mondiale et en Suisse (2012)