International trade;
our global economy depends on it.
And yet
global supply chains
are the source of much of the world's
total greenhouse gas emission.
They are also, sadly,
pathways for natural resource crimes
and violations of environmental laws.
By virtue of our trade
facilitation and security mission,
CBP is uniquely positioned
to be a leader
in the fight against climate change
and environmental degradation
by leading
and helping
to accelerate the global transition
to green and sustainable trade.
The Green trade strategy is CBP's
effort to incentivize green trade,
to improve and strengthen
our environmental enforcement,
to accelerate green innovation,
and to improve climate resilience
and resource efficiency.
Climate change
can impact trade
and is impacting trade in increasingly
dramatic and devastating fashion,
not only in the production of merchandise,
but also the transportation of merchandise.
Those things that we need,
consumers need to go about their everyday
lives become increasingly difficult
to locate and more expensive.
So an immediate real impact of climate change
in our own homes every day.
We know that environmental crimes
have a huge impact on the economy.
They generate between 85 billion
and $265 billion in criminal proceeds every year,
and those crimes are negatively
impacting the fish in the ocean,
the trees in the forests,
even the air that we breathe.
So it's important for us to move quickly on that.
Also, we know that climate change
is encouraging increasingly volatile
climate reactions.
And when ports are disrupted,
when shipping lanes are disrupted,
we've all seen what can happen,
when even small disruptions
in our transportation system occur.
We have
a very recent example
that we're still thinking about,
which is the COVID-19.
We saw what happened when there was a disruption
to the transportation of merchandise
and also the production of merchandise.
CBP, we envision a green future,
but we can't accomplish this alone.
We need you;
industry, academia, government, NGOs,
and concerned citizens everywhere to join us.
Bring your ideas, your vision,
and your desire for sustainable solutions.
Together, we can shape the future of trade.