Climate Change and Trade Facilitation: Estimating Greenhouse Gas Emission Savings from Implementation of Cross-Border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific

Yann Duval and Simon Hardy

Journal of Asian Economic Integration, 2021, vol. 3, issue 2, 190-210

Abstract: The Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-Border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific entered into force in February 2021. While economic benefits associated with paperless trade facilitation are well known, little attention has been paid to measuring the potential environmental benefits. Accordingly, this article sets out to quantify the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that could be saved if all trade-related paper documents in the region are ultimately replaced by digital documents and data exchange, as foreseen in the regional framework agreement. This is carried out by combining detailed descriptions of trade transactions, data on trading volumes and relevant emission factors. Even with conservative assumptions, the emissions saved by fully digitalising a single end-to-end trade transaction are equivalent to planting 1.5 trees. For the Asia-Pacific, this implies savings of about 13 million tons of CO 2 e annually, equivalent to the carbon absorbed by 400 million trees. The results are driven by efficiency gains from handling data digitally rather than by the direct savings of paper and ink. JEL Codes: F18, H83, Q56

Keywords: International trade; trade facilitation; environment; digitisation; climate change (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:jfasei:v:3:y:2021:i:2:p:190-210

DOI: 10.1177/26316846211035567

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