Press Releases
JOINT PRESS RELEASE: 25 September 2025 (at 17:00 Geneva / 11:00 NY)
(New York City) – The International Trade Centre (ITC) and the Global Battery Alliance (GBA) have announced a new partnership aimed at supporting progress toward sustainable, circular and resilient global battery value chains.
This partnership, announced during the GBA Leadership Meeting held on the sidelines of Climate Week NYC 2025, comes at a time of exponential growth in global battery demand. Demand is expected to quadruple between 2023 and 2030 as electric vehicle sales continue to rise, according to Bain & Company.
Meeting this growing demand in an environmentally and socially responsible way – at every step of the value chain, from sourcing to recycling of raw materials – requires credible data, harmonized tools and frameworks, so stakeholders can align on and meet globally agreed-upon sustainability standards.
The ITC-GBA collaboration responds to this need by accelerating the adoption of digital tools that all stakeholders can use to enhance transparency and environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance along the battery supply chain.
The heads of ITC and GBA marked the new partnership with the signing of a memorandum of understanding that formalizes ITC’s membership in the Global Battery Alliance, under the umbrella of an EU-funded ITC project on enhancing transparency and traceability in strategic value chains.
The partnership coincides with the launch of the GBA Battery Benchmarks, the world’s first framework to assess batteries against sustainability standards defined by multiple stakeholders, at the global level. Anchored in international regulations and standards, these benchmarks will guide sustainability certifications under the GBA’s flagship Battery Passport programme.
The Battery Benchmarks represent the first definite set of global metrics to assess a battery's sustainability performance for procurers, investors, and purchasers of battery products. They reflect the views, expectations and consensus of the entire value chain and its stakeholders, developed in multi-stakeholder collaboration by GBA members. Anchored in international regulations and standards to reduce complexity and create comparability for battery products they aid companies in preparing to respond to regulatory requirements, notably, the upcoming EU Batteries Regulation. The Benchmarks come with robust data assurance rules to avoid non-credible sustainability claims and ensure GBA certification is authoritative and trusted.
ITC Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton said: ‘If we’re serious about developing critical mineral value chains in a sustainable way, even the smallest of businesses in developing countries need to be able to access the right tools and information they need to participate in this multi-stakeholder transparency initiative. Through our partnership with the Global Battery Alliance, many more small businesses along the battery value chain will not only participate in this transformation but help to drive it.’
GBA Executive Director Inga Petersen said: ‘We are thrilled to launch this partnership with ITC to develop the supporting digital infrastructure, and enable efficient data exchange across the battery value chain in the context of the GBA’s Battery Passport programme. The collaboration will significantly lower the technical entry barrier to participation in the certification scheme and support the scaling of a sustainable battery value chain.’
The partnership will initially focus on supporting the implementation of the GBA Battery Passport among battery value chain business operators, including:
- Developing a free-to-use, non-exclusive, digital global public good hosted by ITC, removing technological barriers for smaller companies along the battery value chain and allowing for their participation in the GBA Battery Passport ecosystem;
- Developing the minimum necessary technical infrastructure for implementation partners in the GBA Battery Passport ecosystem, supported by capacity building of operators along the battery value chain;
- Creating an ‘insights’ platform providing policymakers, civil society representatives and other key stakeholders with knowledge resources to support a sustainable, resilient global battery value chain.
Notes for the Editor
About GBA – As the only multistakeholder platform bringing together the entire battery value chain, the GBA sets the global benchmark for sustainability and transparency in battery production and use. Since its inception in 2017, the GBA has brought together a unique and growing coalition of public and private stakeholders, united by a common vision: to establish sustainable, responsible, and circular battery value chains by 2030. For more information, visit: www.globalbattery.org. Follow GBA on LinkedIn.
About the International Trade Centre – ITC is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. ITC assists small and medium-sized enterprises in developing and transition economies to become more competitive in global markets, thereby contributing to sustainable economic development within the frameworks of the Aid-for-Trade agenda and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
For more information, visit www.intracen.org. Follow ITC on X | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | Flickr
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