Assessing of the social impact of trade for the EU Bioeconomy
The 2018 EU Bioeconomy Strategy aims to develop a circular, sustainable bioeconomy for Europe, strengthening the connection between economy, society, and environment. It aims to contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the climate commitments made under the Paris Agreement.
In 2021, Claudia and Elisabeth worked on a set of indicators for the EU Joint Research Centre (JRC) with the objective of monitoring progress towards the implementation of the Strategy, with focus on the social impact of trade. We examined how free trade agreements address social issues such as labour, gender, health, and human rights and how international organizations assess the social impact of development programmes in different areas.
Our research findings were used to recommend a set of indicators with basis on existing SDG indicators and various international conventions but revealed the challenges of attributing changes in social indicators at the national level to free trade agreements and. The final report was published by the JRC as part of a series of studies to inform the EU Bioeconomy Monitoring System.