Many governments face challenges engaging at the international level to foster cooperation at the nexus of trade, climate, and sustainable development. Developing countries face capacity constraints in developing long-term visions and strategic national goals at this complex interface of issues and translating these into priorities for trade diplomacy and negotiations. International discussions at the nexus of trade, climate, and sustainable development have had limited focus on developing country priorities and perspectives. At the same time, there is insufficient attention to understanding how the ongoing evolution of markets, regulations, and technologies, including those related to efforts to reach net-zero targets by 2050, and the ongoing impacts of the climate crisis, will impact developing countries and the implications of this for their trade strategies.

The project aims to work cooperatively with a range of developing countries from different regions, with varying levels of development and climate vulnerability, and support them and their stakeholders to formulate national visions, strategies, and policy options on trade that reflect national climate and sustainable development challenges and priorities and promote their pursuit at the national and international levels.

The project has three pillars:

1. Identify national trade-related priorities on climate mitigation and adaptation and climate-resilient development. The first pillar aims to better equip governments and their stakeholders to identify and pursue national trade-related climate priorities in the context of wider sustainable development goals and strategies, bearing in mind evolving economic, climate, and political realities.
2. Develop national trade-related strategies on climate mitigation and adaptation and climate-resilient development. The second pillar consists of assisting governments to collaborate with relevant stakeholders at the national and regional levels and develop national trade-related climate strategies.
3. Actively pursue national goals through trade diplomacy. The third pillar supports governments prioritize their sustainable trade goals and engage in the pursuit of their identified goals and priorities at the nexus of trade and climate through the World Trade Organization, the Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate, and relevant regional settings.

TESS aims to work cooperatively with a range of developing countries from different regions, with varying levels of development and climate vulnerability. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Australian Government for the project’s first phase in the Philippines and the Pacific Region since the beginning of 2024. The project is expanding to further countries and regions thanks to the support of a wider group of funders that support TESS work on the climate crisis, including France, Quadrature Climate Foundation, and the European Climate Foundation.

The project is pursued in partnership with expert institutions active at the national level, selected in consultation with partner countries. Activities combine the production of analytical pieces involving national and international experts, a series of multistakeholder dialogues or roundtables in the partner countries and in Geneva with the engagement of national government officials, expert institutions, and stakeholder groups, as well as behind-the-scenes support for engagement in relevant international processes, including in Geneva.

Publications

Publication Series on Net Zero Pathways and Implications for Developing Countries

National Workshops

Second High-level Roundtable on Trade, Climate and Sustainable Development: Towards a Trade-Related Climate Strategy for a Climate-Resilient Philippines – 9 July 2026 - Manila

First High-Level Roundtable on Trade, Climate and Sustainable Development: Towards a Trade-Related Climate Strategy for a Climate-Resilient Philippines – 2 October 2025 - Manila

Geneva Events

From Strategy to Synergy: Aligning Climate and Trade for Resilient and Sustainable Development – WTO Trade and Environment Week – 3 June 2026

The project lead is Yasmin Ismail, Senior Policy Advisor, Trade, Climate, and Sustainable Development, TESS.

Email: Yasmin Ismail