In 2025, TESS will join a number of international summits and processes of critical importance to multilateral cooperation on sustainability and trade. Each will convene against a backdrop of geopolitical shifts and uncertainty regarding the future of trade and trade policy.

At the World Trade Organization (WTO), the attention of delegations over the coming months will be on understanding what opportunities exist and how best to lay the groundwork for meaningful outcomes at the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14), scheduled for late March 2026 in Cameroon. TESS will be actively supporting members and stakeholders to seize MC14 as an opportunity to, among other important issues, reach concrete outcomes in relation to several aspects of the trade and sustainability agenda—from the climate crisis and plastic pollution to sustainable agriculture. In addition, the Public Forum in September will be an opportunity to engage directly with many of our partners, colleagues, and friends.

From 25–27 February 2025, the Second resumed session of the sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will take place in Rome, Italy. As negotiators seek to adopt a number of pending decisions, TESS will be promoting a nature-positive trading system that advances sustainability in agriculture, food systems, and use of natural resources and aligns with the global biodiversity goals.

In mid-2025, negotiators are expected to pick up negotiations on a global plastics treaty at a resumed Fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. TESS will be at this resumed session supporting the treaty negotiations and the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution while working to foster convergence on critical yet challenging elements of the negotiations (see below).

Finally, from 10–21 November, the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) will convene in Belém. TESS will be on the ground seeking to connect the dots between climate and trade governance, highlighting the importance of inclusive trade cooperation to meet the Paris Agreement goals and achieve climate-resilient and sustainable development.

Other international meetings on our radar in 2025 where we see opportunities to bridge environmental, economic, and sustainable development discussions include: the 5th UN Ocean Forum on trade-related aspects of Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Geneva - 3–5 March); the meetings of the conferences of the parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions (Geneva - 28 April–9 May); the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (Seville, Spain - 30 June–3 July); the G20 Leaders’ Summit (Johannesburg, South Africa - 22–23 November); the 16th quadrennial conference of UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD16) (Viet Nam - October); and the Seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) (Nairobi, Kenya - 8–12 December).

Similarly, the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (New York, USA - 14–23 July) and the 80th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 80) (New York - 9–23 September) will offer opportunities to foster coherence on issues of trade, environment and sustainable development.

In all of this work, we look forward to sustaining our engagement with a broad diversity of partners and stakeholders, involving them in our thought leadership platforms and promoting attention to perspectives from developing countries from all regions on issues of trade and sustainability.

In 2024, TESS continued to be guided by our vision of a world where the global trading system effectively addresses global environmental crises and advances sustainable development. Highlights included our participation in the Thirteenth WTO Ministerial Conference, Global Review of Aid for Trade, WTO Public Forum, UN Biodiversity Conference, UN Climate Change Conference, and sessions of the International Negotiating Committee on plastic pollution. Alongside, we provided ongoing contributions and support to the work of WTO members in the context of the Committee on Trade and Environment, Dialogue on Plastic Pollution, Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions, and Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform initiative.

In September, we celebrated our three-year anniversary with trade and sustainability colleagues during a reception at the Geneva Graduate Institute. At the reception, we launched a compilation of expert views on Reviving multilateralism: From vision to action on trade and sustainability at the WTO. Published as a series in our blog Synergies, the compilation features 30 articles by a diverse range of leading experts on the state of play in the multilateral trading system and how to put sustainability at the top of the agenda.

In 2024, we also launched a series of Ambassadors’ Roundtables on Trade and Sustainability and continued to support the Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate and the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution.

To inform policymakers and stakeholders on current and anticipated transformations in trade in the context of the unfolding climate crisis and the international community’s climate action agenda, TESS has launched a series of sectoral briefing notes on Trade and climate scenarios on the road to 2050: Implications for developing countries and climate-resilient development. The sectors covered in the series include agriculture, carbon markets, critical minerals, digital trade, fisheries, fossil fuels, heavy industries, renewable energy, textiles, and shipping, each authored by experts in these respective fields. The briefing notes will be compiled and inform a final report later this year.

To support policy dialogue and action across international fora—from the WTO to the climate regime and in regional settings—we have also launched a new Synergies series on Addressing the climate crisis and supporting climate-resilient development: where can the trading system contribute? The series, which will run throughout 2025, asks selected experts from around the world to consider how and where we can enhance international cooperation on trade to drive action on the Paris climate goals in ways that support sustainable development priorities and just transitions.

In our role as Secretariat, we will continue to support the activities of the Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate, co-led by Ecuador, the European Union, Kenya, and New Zealand with 64 Ministers as members, including through opportunities for engagement of trade ministers alongside COP30.

Spurred by growing interest among WTO members in the interoperability of trade-related climate measures, we are working with a group of international experts on this topic, focusing on what could be achieved in multilateral discussions. TESS will also be supporting developing countries devise and advance national strategies and priorities at the nexus of trade, climate, and sustainable development, including in their international trade diplomacy. We look forward to hosting more discussions as part of our Ambassadors’ Roundtables on Trade and Sustainability and supporting a range of delegations at the WTO keen to work towards concrete outcomes on issues at the intersection of trade, climate, and sustainable development at MC14.

View our thematic work on the climate crisis.

As governments set their sights on crossing the finishing line at the resumed fifth session of INC negotiations in mid-2025, we continue to support the work of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution (HAC) as part of its Secretariat function, including by assisting HAC members for the next phase of negotiations while fostering efforts to reinforce and mobilize an even wider group of counties in favour of an effective, ambitious treaty.

In addition, TESS will be supporting the treaty process through a set of informal consultations and policy notes focused on fostering convergence on several indispensable, but challenging, elements of the negotiations—primary plastic polymers, plastic products and chemicals in plastics, health, and financing.

Our active engagement in supporting the efforts of the coordinators and WTO members involved in the Dialogue on Plastic Pollution (DPP) will continue in 2025. Here too, we will be razor focused on helping the DPP membership achieve the stated goal of reaching concrete, pragmatic, and effective outcomes at MC14.

During the year, we will finalize a guidebook to be published by the World Bank on the development of trade-related policy strategies and tools to address plastic pollution. The guidebook aims to help policymakers in developing countries use trade and trade policies in support of domestic and international plastic pollution reduction priorities.

View our thematic work on plastic pollution.

An important outcome to look out for in early 2025 will be the release of a report of the International Expert Group on Environmentally Harmful Agricultural Subsidies, mobilized by TESS to identify a set of environmentally harmful subsidies for priority action at the international level and inform discussion on options for cooperative action in the multilateral trading system.

This work will also be useful in informing ongoing discussions in the context of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, OECD, and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

In 2025, TESS will continue to focus on pathways for nature-positive trade and promoting a trading system aligned with global biodiversity and broader sustainable development goals.

View our thematic work on the nature, food, and resources.

In September 2024, we released the final report of the International Expert Group on Trade, Circular Economy, and Sustainable Development, mobilized by TESS. The report identifies 10 considerations to guide the design and implementation of trade-related circular economy policies and measures in ways that support advancing sustainable development and inclusive international cooperation on trade and sustainability.

In 2025, we will seek to amplify the reach of the report, including among members of the Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions (TESSD) at the WTO, where there is a dedicated Working Group on Circular Economy – Circularity, as well as among participants of the World Circular Economy Forum 2025. View our thematic work on circular economy.