At COP29, negotiators are grappling to address critical issues on climate finance, including agreement on a New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance; set to replace the existing goal of $100 billion per year. The 2023 report of the Independent High-Level Expert Group on Climate Finance concludes that developing countries (excluding China) will need around $2.4 trillion of investment per year by 2030 to meet the priorities of a just energy transition, adaptation and resilience, loss and damage, and the conservation and restoration of nature.

Regarding international trade, on 14 November, the summit will include the first-ever Climate Finance, Investment, and Trade Day with sessions covering a wide range of topics. The Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan (AZPROMO) is also hosting a Trade and Investment House in collaboration with the WTO Secretariat and the ICC, ITC, and UN Trade and Development. A full programme is available.

Additionally, as part of its COP29 Action Agenda, the presidency is launching with partners the Baku Initiative for Climate Finance, Investment, and Trade (BICFIT Dialogue) at the opening session of trade day. Aiming to enhance coherence by integrating climate finance, investment, trade, and sustainable development agendas, the initiative proposes a global platform of dialogue.

Indeed, issues related to trade are increasingly coming to the forefront of the discussions in climate talks, as politically charged tensions over a growing array of trade-related climate measures, for example, risk undermining the international cooperation that is vital to achieve the world’s climate goals. Key themes that will be discussed across events in Baku will include renewable energy, trade-related cooperation on climate technologies, sustainable agriculture, climate vulnerability and adaptation, just transitions to net zero, cooperation on trade-related climate measures, and trade and nationally determined contributions among others.

TESS will be engaged in these critical discussions through hosting and participating in sessions as well as in a series of bilateral meetings, private dialogues, and roundtables, including one hosted by Columbia University’s Centre on Global Energy Policy on Reconciling Climate and Trade: Principles and Practicalities.

Below, you will find information on our COP29 activities followed by a selection of TESS publications and initiatives aimed at advancing urgently needed inclusive international cooperation on trade, climate, and sustainable development. These include a landmark report by a group of eminent legal experts convened by TESS providing independent guidance on principles of international law relevant for consideration by policymakers in the design and implementation of trade-related climate measures and policies.

Supporting the Presence of the Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate

Trade Meets Climate: Priorities for Collective Trade Action and Cooperation to Achieve Climate Goals

15 November 2024 – 14:00-15:00 (AZT) – Trade and Investment House (Blue Zone)

The Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate (co-led by Ecuador, the European Union, Kenya, and New Zealand) will hold a roundtable on priorities and opportunities for collective trade action and cooperation to contribute to achieving climate goals. This event will highlight examples of trade actions and cooperative efforts coalition members are pursuing from the coalition’s Menu of Voluntary Actions and support various aspects of the global climate agenda. Ministers and leaders from the climate and stakeholder community will share their experiences and perspectives on concrete trade-related actions and collaborations that can advance climate goals and support inclusive cooperation on trade, climate, and sustainable development.

The Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate brings together 64 ministers of a diversity of countries from different regions with varying levels of development, climate vulnerabilities, and trade circumstances. TESS serves as the coalition’s Secretariat and is leading on the organization of this event at COP29 for the coalition co-leads.

Other TESS Activities at COP29

Climate, Trade, and Sustainable Agriculture, and Food Systems: Opportunities for International Cooperation That is Ambitious, Effective, and Fair

19 November 2024 – 11:30-12:30 (AZT) – Trade and Investment House (Green Zone)

This roundtable organized by the FACT Dialogue and TESS will focus on how to foster greater international cooperation on trade and sustainable agriculture to support achievement of the Paris Agreement’s climate goals, nature-positive agri-food supply chains, and sustainable development. Speakers will identify some of the key trends and concrete opportunities for a cooperative trade agenda on sustainable agriculture and climate.

Biodiversité, commerce et solidarité à la COP 29

16 November 2024 – 11:00-12:00 (AZT) – Pavillon de la Francophonie

TESS will be speaking at this roundtable organized by the Organisation international de la Francophonie and UNCTAD. Participants will explore how international value chains based on biodiversity-derived products play a crucial role in world economies and contribute to the fight against climate change and to sustainable development while strengthening their climate resilience. This hybrid event will be in French.

Remaking Global Trade for Nature, People, and Climate

21 November 2024 – 14:00-15:00 (AZT) – Trade and Investment House (Green Zone)

TESS will be speaking at this session organized by the Yale Centre for Environmental Law and Policy / Remaking Trade for a Sustainable Future Project. The panel will discuss trade system reform as a pathway to a sustainable future. This session will provide an opportunity for engagement and dialogue from diverse perspectives with an eye towards building support for critical trade systems change.

Finally, as noted, TESS will be engaged throughout the climate COP in key discussions at the intersection of trade, climate, and sustainable development in a series of bilateral meetings, private dialogues, and roundtables.

At TESS, our participation at COP29 is part of a wider set of activities on the nexus between climate, trade, and sustainable development. This includes work on how trade rules and policies need to be rethought, reformed, updated, or clarified to drive ambitious climate action at speed and scale. Across our work on the climate crisis, our focus is in fostering inclusive international cooperation, climate-resilient sustainable development, and fair and just transitions.

You will find below some examples of this work. For more information and resources, we invite you to visit our thematic work on the climate crisis.

Principles of International Law Relevant for Consideration in the Design and Implementation of Trade-Related Climate Measures and Policies

In September last year, we published a report by a group of eminent international experts on international law relating to trade and to climate. Convened by TESS, the group’s report provides independent guidance on principles of international law relevant for consideration by policymakers in the design and implementation of trade-related climate measures and policies.

The report aims to inform and foster mutual understanding, dialogue, and international cooperation on the design and implementation of trade-related climate measures and policies in the context of sustainable development priorities. You can also read a Synergies article authored by the expert group for COP29, which highlights the relevance of the principles and the contribution they can make to international cooperation around these issues.

Trade and Climate Scenarios on the Road to 2050: Implications for Developing Countries and Climate-Resilient Development

Earlier this year, TESS launched a new series of sectoral briefing notes on trade and climate scenarios on the road to 2050 looking at the implications for developing countries and climate-resilient development. The series aims to provide an overview of current and anticipated transformations in trade on the road to 2050 in the context of the unfolding climate crisis and the international community’s climate action agenda, and to discuss potential scenarios and implications for developing countries and sustainable development. The sectors covered in the series include agriculture, border carbon adjustments, carbon markets, critical minerals, digital trade, fisheries, energy, heavy industries, textiles, tourism, and transport, each authored by experts in these respective fields.

You can read the first sectoral briefing notes in the series on carbon markets and fisheries. The other papers will be released over the coming weeks.

Launch of Synergies Series on Trade Cooperation and the Climate Crisis: Where Can the Trading System Contribute?

Building on the growing attention to the nexus of trade, climate, and sustainability and the broad recognition of the urgent need to forge collaboration, TESS is pleased to launch this new Synergies series to spur discussion on where the trading system can and must contribute to addressing the climate crisis. The articles, which will be released over the coming weeks and months, will explore how international cooperation on trade can be enhanced—at the multilateral level and in other fora or processes—to drive urgent action on the Paris climate goals in ways that support sustainable development. As in past Synergies series, the focus is on bringing together a broad diversity of views from leading experts around the world on elements for a proactive, forward-looking, and inclusive agenda.

Recent Synergies Articles on Climate and Trade

Synergies is our blog dedicated to promoting inclusive policy dialogue at the intersection of trade, environment, and sustainable development. You can find below a list of recent Synergies articles on climate and trade.

Synergies is our blog dedicated to promoting inclusive policy dialogue at the intersection of trade, environment, and sustainable development. You can find below a list of recent Synergies articles on climate and trade.

• From Tension to Cooperation on Trade-Related Climate Measures: Six Principles to Bolster International Cooperation by an International Legal Expert Group on Trade-Related Climate Measures and Policies
• Three Key Issues to Address at the Interface Between Climate and Trade by Ignacio Garcia Bercero
• Why the Next Three Months Are Critical for People, Nature, and Climate by Ani Dasgupta
• Revitalizing International Fossil Fuel Subsidy Phase-Out Commitments Through Roadmaps, Closing Loopholes, and Support by Jakob Skovgaard and colleagues
• WTO at a “Crossroads” in Addressing Trade and Climate Nexus by Jean-Marie Paugam
• Making a Border Carbon Adjustment Mechanism Work for Climate, Trade, and Equity by Kasturi Das and Kaushik Ranjan Bandyopadhyay
• The Emerging Principle of Common Concern of Humankind and International Trade Regulation by Thomas Cottier
• The IMO Carbon Pricing Mechanism, the Equitable Transition of International Shipping, and WTO Law by Goran Dominioni
• Reshaping WTO Subsidy Rules for a Sustainable Future by Dan C. Esty and Elena Cima
• Trade in the Balance: Aligning the Trading System With Climate and Development Goals by Kevin Gallagher and Tim Hirschel-Burns
• Climate and Trade Cooperation After the Thirteenth WTO Ministerial Conference: Quo Vadis? By David Kleimann, Jodie Keane, and Michai Robertson
• Greening Supply Chains: Sleepwalking Into a New Era of Trade Policy? By Marion Jansen
• Voluntary Carbon Markets – Unfinished Business From COP28 by David Luke and Cecilia Wandiga
• How to Avoid Potential Friction in Future Trade in Climate Technologies by Brad McDonald and Scott Vaughan
• Transparency is Vital to Sustain State Support for the Clean Energy Transition by Simon J. Evenett and Fernando Martin

Other TESS Publications on Trade, Climate, and Sustainable Development

In our thematic work on the climate crisis you will find many more publications of interest. These include a policy brief by Vicente Yu on Addressing the Climate Technology Gap Through Effective Technology Transfer and another by Peter Wooders on Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform: Options for Inclusive Collective Action at the World Trade Organization.

We have also published a regional series of policy papers exploring how international cooperation on trade and trade-related policies can support the climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts and priorities of developing countries and foster pathways to climate-resilient development. In a first phase, the series offers views from Africa, the Caribbean, South America, and Southeast Asia. Each paper has been prepared by experts and in partnership with institutions from the region.