Agriculture has long been recognized as one of the most challenging sectors for international trade cooperation. Over the past several years, there has been growing recognition across a range of international processes of the importance of greater sustainability in agricultural trade—on issues ranging from food security, nutrition, and sustainable livelihoods to sustainable production, food waste, and deforestation. Alongside this, there is increasing attention to a range of different trade-related policies—from environmentally harmful subsidies to voluntary standards and government requirements—and, critically, to the urgent need for trade cooperation that makes a meaningful impact on the ground.

This event will provide an opportunity to take stock: what is working, what is not, and where are there opportunities to foster cooperation that will achieve real, lasting positive impacts on sustainability in all its three dimensions—social, environmental, and economic?

Experts will present remarks of 6 minutes each, followed by short reflections from a number of WTO delegations on the role of international cooperation on the following topics:

• Fostering sustainable agricultural production, consumption, and trade;
• Ending environmentally harmful agricultural subsidies;
• Ensuring policy coherence between development, trade, and environmental objectives; and
• Promoting food, nutrition, and livelihood security.

15:30–15:40 Welcome and Introductory Remarks

Carolyn Deere Birkbeck, Executive Director, TESS (moderator)

15:40–16:10 Discussion Starters

• Pinar Karakaya, Economist, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) - Fostering sustainable production and trade through international cooperation
  
• Doaa Abdel-Motaal, Senior Counsellor, World Trade Organization - Preventing the trade distorting effects and development impacts of policies and measures pursuing environmental objectives
• Christophe Bellmann, Head of Policy Analysis and Strategy, TESS - Options to address environmentally harmful agricultural subsidies
• Emeline Fellus, Director of Food Reform for Sustainability and Health, World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) - Fostering cooperation around sustainability standards and regulations in trade policy
• Xiaotian Fu, Food And Natural Resources Program Director, World Resources Institute China (Online)

16:10–16:25 Reflections From Delegations

• Diego Alfieri, Second Secretary, Permanent Mission of Brazil to the World Trade Organization and other international organizations in Geneva
  
• Luis Oña, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Ecuador to the World Trade Organization and other International Economic Organizations in Geneva
  
• Giulio Menato, First Counsellor, Permanent Mission of the European Union to World Trade Organization
  
• Marlito Cabuños, Assistant Agriculture Attaché, Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the World Trade Organization
  
• Aurore Dupin, First Secretary Agriculture, Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations at Geneva
  

16:25–16:55 Open Discussion

16:55–17:00 Concluding Remarks

Carolyn Deere Birkbeck

Agriculture provides the bulk of the world’s caloric supply and serves as a critical source of feed, fuel, and livelihood for over one billion people—particularly in developing countries. However, the sector still fails to ensure food and nutrition security for all, as shown by recent increases in both the number and share of hungry people due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the conflict in Ukraine, and other supply-chain disruptions. Moreover, agriculture contributes directly and indirectly to environmental degradation, including soil and water pollution and biodiversity loss. Food systems—including on-farm activities, land-use change, and pre- and post-production processes—were estimated to generate more than one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2022. At the same time, climate change is already affecting crop yields, productivity, and ultimately food security. By 2050, about 70 million more people worldwide will face hunger because of climate change, including over 28 million in East and Southern Africa.

A core challenge is to provide healthy, nutritious food to nine billion people by 2050 while responding to the rapidly changing diets of a growing urban middle class. Meeting this challenge will require improving productivity, access, availability, and stability of food supplies, alongside efforts to protect fragile ecosystems, restore biodiversity, enhance soil health, optimize water use, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this context, there is growing recognition of the need for agriculture-and-trade discussions that foster cooperation on sustainability. Such discussions must take a comprehensive approach that integrates environmental concerns with critical public-policy objectives—food and nutrition security, livelihoods, and rural development.