At COP30, the urgency of addressing the climate crisis remains undiminished. Critical issues on the agenda for negotiators in Belém include charting a credible path to $1.3 trillion annually in affordable climate finance, enhancing the implementation and ambition of mitigation targets, closing the adaptation gap, and securing a just transition to a low-carbon economy.

On 14-15 November, the thematic days crafted by the Presidency to align with the six COP30 Action Agenda axes will zoom in on a number of key areas including climate and trade. TESS will be engaged in these critical discussions around trade cooperation through hosting, supporting, and participating in a range of events and consultations.

Below, you will find information on our COP30 activities, followed by a selection of recent highlights from our work to advance urgently needed inclusive international cooperation on trade, climate, and sustainable development.

Supporting the Presence of the Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate

Trade’s Contribution in Advancing the Global Climate Agenda: Examples for Collective Action

14 November 2025 – 12:00-12:45 (BRT) – World Green Economy Organization Pavilion (Blue Zone)

The Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate (co-led by Ecuador, the European Union, Kenya, and New Zealand) will hold an event on the role of trade and cooperation in advancing climate change mitigation and adaptation and climate-resilient sustainable development. The panel will provide an opportunity for participants to share experiences and perspectives on concrete and effective trade-related actions that have the potential to accelerate climate-resilient and sustainable development on the ground. At the panel, the coalition will share examples of trade-related collaborative actions by coalition members that advance the global climate agenda. The event will be livestreamed.

The Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate 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 serves as the coalition’s Secretariat and is supporting the organization of this event.
 

Other TESS Activities at COP30

Technology, Transition and Trust - the Role of Trade and International Cooperation for Just and Equitable Industrial Decarbonization

14 November 2025 – 15:00-16:00 (BRT) – Open Society Foundations Pavilion (Blue Zone)

This session, organized by TESS and LeadIT, will examine how trade policy and international cooperation can deliver technology where it is needed by leveraging trade in environmental goods and services, enabling intellectual property and licensing models (such as patent pools, shared intellectual property rights and co-development, off-patent use, and concessional licensing), and strengthening investment partnerships and finance mechanisms (including concessional financing, public–private partnerships, and cooperation through Article 6 of the Paris Agreement).

Affordable Access to Technologies Vital to Achieving Climate Goals

15 November 2025 – 09:00-09:45 (BRT) – World Green Economy Organization Pavilion (Blue Zone)

This session, organized by UNCTAD, IISD, TESS, Youth Negotiators, and ISO, will focus attention on the range of factors key to boosting access to affordable technologies, including the cost of capital, skills, regulatory environment, investment, trade policies, as well as the role that the private, public, academic sectors can play in supporting win-win solutions such as co-development, production, or partnerships on technology.

Fostering International Cooperation on Trade, Sustainable Agriculture, and Deforestation: The Importance of Smallholder Inclusion in Sustainable Agri-Food Chains

15 November 2025 – 15:30-16:30 (BRT) – Open Society Foundations Pavilion (Blue Zone)

This session, organized by TESS and the FACT Dialogue, will convene government representatives, stakeholders, and experts from various regions to discuss pathways for international cooperation on inclusive, sustainable agri-food chains. It will highlight examples of collaboration involving government and non-government actors aimed at advancing the sustainable production, trade, and consumption of agricultural commodities (e.g. soy, beef, cocoa, coffee, timber, and oil palm) while ensuring smallholders are not left behind.

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Launch of the Integrated Forum on Climate Change and Trade 

15 November 2025 – 09:00-10:15 (BRT) – Special Events Room 3 – Parnaíba (Blue Zone)

The Integrated Forum on Climate Change and Trade (IFCCT) aims to provide a space for dialogue and solution-building at the intersection of trade and climate change. 

The Forum will be co-chaired by Brazil and a developed country partner, and is open to all parties to the UNFCCC. The IFCCT proposes to fill an existing gap by creating an interdisciplinary space for exploratory, non-prejudicial, and solution-oriented dialogue among government officials, underpinned by non-government expert advice.

TESS is proud to have been invited to serve as the anchor organization for the IFCCT Secretariat.

TESS participation at COP30 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 this thematic work, our focus is on fostering inclusive international trade cooperation for climate action, climate-resilient development, and just transitions. Below you will find recent highlights. 

Trade Cooperation and the Climate Crisis: Where Can the Trading System Contribute?

Compilation of Expert Views Curated by TESS

Recognizing the urgent need to forge collaboration and solutions at the nexus of trade, climate, and sustainability, TESS is proud to share a compilation of its latest Synergies series on how and where the trading system can contribute to addressing the climate crisis. Published to coincide with COP30, the series includes over 30 contributions authored by a broad diversity of experts from around the world and explores how international cooperation on trade can be enhanced to drive urgent action on the Paris Agreement’s climate goals. The cross-cutting focus is on elements for a proactive, forward-looking, and inclusive agenda.

The themes covered in the series include: managing and reducing climate-trade tensions; clean energy access and transition; cooperation on green industrial policies; decarbonization of key industrial sectors; sustainability in agriculture and food systems; climate-resilient development; and climate adaptation and just transitions.

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

Compilation of Sectoral Briefing Notes Curated by TESS

In recent months, TESS has curated a series of briefing notes on current and anticipated transformations in production and trade in key sectors on the road to net zero. The briefing notes explore potential scenarios for these sectors in the context of the unfolding climate crisis and global climate action agenda, focusing on implications for developing countries, climate-resilient development, and international trade cooperation. The sectors covered are agriculture, carbon markets, critical minerals, digital transformation, energy transition, fisheries, heavy industries, shipping, and textiles and garments. Each contribution has been authored by independent experts in these respective fields.

With this compilation, we aim to support efforts by developing countries to navigate the transition to a sustainable, low-carbon, and climate-resilient future, and to identify priorities for international cooperation on trade and climate that is guided by the priorities and needs of developing countries.

TESS Annual Conference on Trade, Climate, and Sustainable Development

In October, we proudly organized the first edition of the TESS Annual Conference on Trade, Climate, and Sustainable Development (TCSD 2025). The conference brought together a diverse group of over 120 international experts with a shared conviction that cooperation on trade is key to tackling global sustainability challenges ambitiously, effectively, and fairly. Over two days of in-depth panels and thematic discussions on a range of issues at the nexus of trade, climate, and sustainable development, participants focused on prospects for forging pathways forward around three foundational themes for international trade cooperation: climate action, resilience, and justice. On the TCSD website you will find video recordings of the public panels as well as the programme and list of speakers. Interviews conducted during the conference will be available soon.