How developing countries can gain more from biodiversity-based trade

Biodiversity-based products made up 17.3% of global merchandise trade in 2024, yet participation in this expanding market remains highly uneven, according to a press release by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD). In its monthly Global Trade Update, the agency examines how trade policies and investment can help close this gap while safeguarding biodiversity. The report arrives ahead of the 2026 UN Biodiversity Conference, taking place from 19 to 30 October in Yerevan, Armenia. The conference will review progress on the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and its goals to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. UNCTAD argues that trade can support global biodiversity goals while advancing sustainable and inclusive development.

Global exports of about 1,800 biodiversity-based products reached nearly $3.8 trillion in 2024, but developing countries accounted for only around 35% of the total. Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, together home to roughly two thirds of the world’s biodiversity, accounted for just 3% and 11% of global exports, respectively. European economies, by contrast, captured 49% of the total. Countries rich in biological resources often miss out on higher-value activities such as processing, manufacturing and product development. The report stresses that the challenge is not simply to export more, but to retain greater value locally.

In 2024, African economies exported gum arabic to high-income economies at an average price of $2.28 per kilogram, while imports of the same product from those markets averaged $6.50 per kilogram. In Kenya, a project transformed more than 3,300 tonnes of pineapple leaves, traditionally burnt after harvest, into over 100 tonnes of textile-grade fibre and around 800 tonnes of compost. Natural alternatives to plastics, including cotton, jute, hemp and paper-based products, can face average import tariffs of up to 16.1%. These rates are comparable to or higher than those applied to many plastic products. Tariffs, complex regulations, uneven sustainability costs and limited access to finance all hinder developing-country producers.

Analysis cited in the report found that in the majority of sustainability standards reviewed, producers alone bore both implementation and certification costs, with little support from buyers or governments. UNCTAD underscores that aligning trade, industrial and biodiversity policies could help developing countries retain more value from biodiversity-based trade.

“Achieving this balance is possible but will depend on effective safeguards, legal access and fair and equitable benefit-sharing, stronger productive capacity, access to technology, regional and trade cooperation, sustainable use and trading practices and affordable finance,” the report says.

Fair benefit-sharing with Indigenous Peoples and local communities is also highlighted as essential. Coherent trade and biodiversity policies must advance together, the report notes.

The 2026 UN Biodiversity Conference offers a timely opportunity to translate this agenda into concrete commitments. UNCTAD argues that aligning trade with biodiversity goals is both necessary and achievable. The report concludes that reaching this balance will require more than market access. Safeguards, productive capacity, technology, affordable finance and policy coherence must all progress in parallel. Developing countries stand to benefit when biodiversity-based trade translates into shared development gains.