A surprising pairing: trade and sustainability can go hand in hand

Corvinus University of Budapest achieved a unique result by becoming not only a participant, but also a leader, as a Hungarian higher education institution, of a huge volume of EU research project with a budget of 4 million euros. The Trade4SD (Trade for Sustainable Development) project aimed to explore how international trade can promote sustainable development goals. The project, implemented under the European Union’s Horizon Europe framework program, started in 2021, before the EU financial sanctions that also affected the university, and ended in May this year.

The main conclusion of the research is that trade liberalization remains the main direction to be followed, but sustainable development requires agricultural and environmental policy measures, such as the EU’s carbon tax or the reduction of deforestation. Experts participating in the project argue that the goals of trade and sustainability cannot be at odds with each other.

“Sustainability works when the interests of producers and local communities are also taken into account. Trade is a tool, not an obstacle,”

explains project leader Attila Jámbor, head of the Institute for Sustainable Development at Corvinus University. This is why the experts are calling for, among other things, increasing the income of those living in rural areas and supporting farmers, especially small-scale producers, in accessing the market. Women’s employment in agriculture should also be promoted, as they farm more sustainably, as a recently published Corvinus study has shown.