The global climate change regime and its impacts on South Africa's trade and competitiveness: A data note on South Africa's exports

A global transition to sustainable development is under way and strengthening as a response to multiple socio-environmental crises, including the global impacts of climate change. From a trade and industrial perspective, this transition has implications on the composition and dynamics of entire value chains. This concerns what inputs are accessed, the processes that underlie production, what goods and services are produced, as well as what happens to these products post-consumption. The transition materialises through two complementary streams: the development of new, green industries and the greening of existing, traditional industries. This report aims to shed light on the trade-related risks faced by South Africa as a result of the global transition to a low-carbon economy by delving further these underlying factors and unpacking South Africa’s trade patterns from a carbon perspective