Hosted by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in collaboration with the International Chamber of Commerce, International Trade Centre, Net-Zero Export Credit Agency Alliance, ResponsibleSteel, TESS, UNEP FI, World Bank Group, World Business Council For Sustainable Development, World Economic Forum, and World Trade Organization, the Plan to Accelerate Solutions on trade and climate aims to help countries, especially developing countries, use trade policy as a driver of low-carbon, climate-resilient development. 

TESS has committed four actions in relation to this plan: (i) support for the development of national trade-related climate strategies, (ii) convening an international expert group on trade and critical minerals for the clean energy transition, (iii) convening an international expert group on climate adaptation, and (iv) continued support to the Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate (for which TESS serves as the Secretariat). 

Through its project Supporting Development of National Strategies and Priorities at the Nexus of Trade, Climate Change, and Sustainable Development, TESS works to support a number of developing country governments and stakeholders identify trade-related climate priorities, develop national strategies, and pursue them through trade diplomacy and negotiations. In the Philippines, TESS supported the University of Philippines to convene two high-level roundtables in Manila on a trade-related climate strategy for a climate-resilient Philippines and to develop a draft national strategy in this regard. At COP31, the Philippines Pavilion will host an event on Trade Day, where the findings of a draft strategy paper on trade-climate policy for climate-resilient development in the Philippines will be shared.

Hosted by TESS and UNCTAD, the International Expert Group on Trade in Critical Minerals and the Clean Energy Transition brings together trade and climate experts from developed and developing countries to explore cooperative approaches to trade in critical minerals that support climate action and climate-resilient development. The expert group has held three meetings in 2026, where members defined the scope of the group’s work and its contribution to existing initiatives on critical minerals, discussed an analytical framework to guide the development of the group’s final report, and presented case studies on critical minerals-related trade measures in Chile, Indonesia, and the European Union, with further case studies to be covered at the next meeting.

In July 2026, TESS convened an informal, exploratory dialogue with leading experts from the trade, climate, and sustainable development policy communities to (i) explore how trade and trade policy can support adaptation and climate-resilient development and (ii) help shape the design of a proposed Expert Group on Trade Cooperation for Climate Adaptation and Resilient Development. The consultation will inform the creation of a more structured expert group convened by TESS.

Launched in 2023 and co-led by Ecuador, the European Union, Kenya, and New Zealand, the Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate provides political leadership to foster inclusive cooperation and collective action at the nexus of trade, climate and sustainable development. In March 2026, alongside the WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14), the Coalition held its third Ministerial meeting, bringing together over 60 ministers from regions at different levels of development, climate vulnerability, and trade circumstances. At their Ministerial meeting, ministers adopted a  Ministerial communiqué, reaffirming the Coalition’s commitment to inclusive leadership and cooperation so that trade contributes to climate action, resilience, and shared prosperity, and outlining next steps. The Coalition’s senior officials were tasked by ministers with convening two to three high-level thematic roundtables before the next Coalition Ministerial meeting, to support action-oriented, cooperative, and inclusive solutions. As at previous UN Climate Change Conferences, the Coalition will host an event at COP31 to engage stakeholders, including business leaders and think tanks, in identification of ways to enhance cooperation and to propose practical solutions on how trade can contribute to the climate response, including climate-resilient development. 

TESS will keep building this work, including through an event on trade-related climate strategies at the WTO Aid for Trade Review in October, events at COP31 in November, and a webinar series on net zero pathways and implications for developing countries in 2027.