As governments and stakeholders gather in Abu Dhabi from 26–29 February 2024 for the Thirteenth WTO Ministerial Conference, TESS is working to foster inclusive international cooperation on a trading system that works for sustainability. Now is the time to engage!
At a time when addressing the triple environmental crises—climate change, nature loss, and pollution—is more urgent than ever, MC13 is a critical opportunity to bolster cooperation on trade, environment, and sustainable development. Strong ministerial-level engagement and commitment is needed to strengthen international cooperation at the WTO on sustainability and trade to consolidate the progress of the past few years and provide vital political impetus for further work.
We invite you to join us at the various activities we will be participating in and hosting in the margins of MC13 to foster inclusive international cooperation on a trading system that works for sustainability, including a stakeholder reception of the Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate. We also invite you to explore our new Synergies series of expert views on reviving multilateralism.
Join us at MC13!
TESS Engagement at MC13
Stakeholder Roundtable on Climate, Trade, and Sustainable Development
26 February 2024 – 13:30-15:00 GST – NGO Centre, Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, Abu Dhabi
Seizing the opportunity that many colleagues will be in Abu Dhabi for MC13, TESS is bringing together a broad range of experts and stakeholders working on the climate-trade-sustainable development interface for this informal roundtable. The roundtable aims to offer an informal opportunity for a diverse group of experts to exchange views on priorities and ways forward for inclusive international cooperation on trade and trade policies to support the global climate agenda, fair transitions and climate-resilient development.
Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate: Stakeholder Reception in the Margins of MC13
27 February 2024 – 18:00-20:00 GST – IISD Trade + Sustainability Hub, Abu Dhabi
On behalf of the Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate in collaboration with E3G and TESS, we invite you to a reception we are hosting on the margins of MC13. Since its launch in January 2023, the Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate has grown to over 60 members. The reception will provide an opportunity for registered stakeholders to hear from a number of ministers of the coalition on the nexus of trade, climate, and sustainable development and how inclusive cooperation on trade can make a positive contribution to the global climate agenda.
Fostering Trade-Related Cooperation on Plastic Pollution: The WTO Dialogue on Plastics Pollution beyond MC13
28 February 2024 – 09:00-10:00 GST – IISD Trade + Sustainability Hub, Abu Dhabi
IISD, The Pew Charitable Trusts, UNCTAD, and TESS invite you to this dialogue at IISD's Trade + Sustainability Hub in the margins of MC13. This session will bring together trade delegates and stakeholders to highlight where trade-related cooperation can support global efforts to end plastic pollution across the full life cycle of plastics. It will focus on progress in discussion of trade-related dimensions in the DPP and within negotiations for a global plastics treaty to address plastic pollution.
Enabling a Just Transition: Trade and Industrial Policy Options for Developing Countries on Climate Action and Principles for Cooperation
28 February 2024 – 10:30-11:30 GST – IISD Trade + Sustainability Hub, Abu Dhabi, UAE
IRENA, UNCTAD, the Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy, UNEP, and TESS invite you to this dialogue at IISD's Trade + Sustainability Hub in the margins of MC13. Speakers in this session will reflect on what type of industrial and trade policies and cooperation for climate action is available and would make sense for developing countries in today’s context. What are some of the principles that all countries need to consider when designing trade-related climate policies to enable a just transition?
Closing Plenary: Where Next? Building Trade Cooperation in a Fractured World
28 February 2024 – 17:00-18:00 GST – IISD Trade + Sustainability Hub, Abu Dhabi
Carolyn Deere Birkbeck will be a panelist at the closing plenary of the IISD Trade and Sustainability Hub. The event will bring together thought leaders from outside government to set an agenda for action in response to the key questions the Hub has asked on the topic of cooperation: Are we spending wisely as we tackle climate change through industrial policy? How do we allocate the burden of change when we use trade policy to protect the natural environment? And what would a fairer, more inclusive trading system look like?
Reviving Multilateralism
From Vision to Action on Trade and Sustainability at the WTO
A new Synergies series, curated by TESS.
We are delighted to announce the launch of a new Synergies series. Synergies is our blog dedicated to promoting inclusive policy dialogue at the intersection of trade, environment, and sustainable development, drawing on perspectives from a range of experts from around the world.
In the lead up to MC13, Synergies commissioned articles for a series titled From Vision to Action on Trade and Sustainability at the WTO. With MC13 as an opportunity for constructive reflection on the state of play in the multilateral trading system and how to put sustainability at the top of the agenda, a core focus of the series is on reviving multilateralism. The series will include over 20 contributions and run from February to June 2024. We invite you to read the first articles in the series!
Strong Ministerial Engagement is Needed to Strengthen International Cooperation on Sustainability and Trade by Carolyn Deere Birkbeck & Christophe Bellman
Voluntary Carbon Markets – Unfinished Business From COP28 by David Luke & Cecilia Wandiga
How to Avoid Potential Friction in Future Trade in Climate Technologies by Brad McDonald & Scott Vaughan
Pathways Exist for the Appropriate Design and Implementation of Trade-Related Climate Measures by Ujal Singh Bhatia
Transparency is Vital to Sustain State Support for the Clean Energy Transition by Simon J. Evenett & Fernando Martin
The WTO on Sustainable Trade: Far From Perfect, by No Means the Enemy of the Good by Kimberley Botwright
Why Delivering a Fisheries Subsidies Agreement Matters for Small Islands by H.E. Matthew Wilson
Explore the series
Second Ministerial Meeting of the Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate
25 February 2024 – 11:00-12:30 GST – Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, UAE
This second Ministerial meeting of the coalition will take place immediately before MC13. The meeting is the key occasion that brings together all coalition ministers. It will provide an opportunity for the co-leads to report on the coalition’s activities in its first year and welcome new members. It will also be an opportunity for ministers to take stock and exchange views on opportunities and next steps for future cooperation and potential actions. The meeting will be hosted by the co-lead ministers from the coalition—Ecuador, EU, Kenya, and New Zealand.
Underlining the need for inclusive international cooperation on the nexus of trade, climate, and sustainable development, the coalition brings together over 60 trade ministers from a diversity of countries from different regions at varying levels of development, climate vulnerabilities, and trade circumstances. TESS was nominated to act as the Secretariat of the coalition in February 2024.
View the latest information on the coalition
Trade, Climate, and Sustainable Development Country Profiles
To inform discussions on the nexus of trade, climate, and sustainable development, TESS has developed a compilation of short four-page factual country profiles that bring together key data, indicators, and information on climate, trade, and sustainable development. The first batch of country profiles will be launched on the occasion of MC13.
The profiles are designed to bridge the silos between policymaking on trade, climate, and sustainable development by compiling relevant information on each of these dimensions in one place, with links to original sources. The profiles reflect cooperation with UNCTAD on statistical data on trade and gather publicly available data.