Launch of TESS dialogue series on climate, trade, and sustainable development: Multilateral perspectives

The Forum on Trade, Environment and the SDGs (TESS) is pleased to announce its dialogue series on climate, trade and sustainable development.

The series aims to enhance understanding of opportunities and challenges on the nexus of climate, trade and sustainable development, and to support inclusive multilateral cooperation on these topics. Working in collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, the series will combine high-level dialogues and solution-oriented thematic roundtables.

In 2021, the dialogue series began with a high-level session on the margins of the UN Climate Conference of Parties (COP26) and WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12).

• 6 November 2021 at COP26: “High-level dialogue on sustainable trade, climate and nature: How can cooperation on trade support climate action and sustainable development” co-organized on the sidelines of COP26 in collaboration with Chatham House, GCRF TradeHub and UN Environment Programme (UNEP)

The series will continue with public webinars and informal, off-the-record thematic roundtables engaging a diversity of stakeholders and institutions, both as speakers and co-sponsoring organizations. Events will bring together trade and climate change officials, IGOs, experts, and non-state actors from developed and developing countries, including least developed countries (LDCs).

The Climate, Trade and Sustainable Development Series 

The series will explore a diverse range of climate, trade and sustainable development topics, with cross-cutting attention to issues of concern to developing countries, especially LDCs and vulnerable economies (dates and speakers to be announced):

• Climate and trade policy intersection: Intersections between climate response measures, trade and trade policy, including options for enhanced international coordination and cooperation on climate and trade policy intersections.
• Climate, trade and technology transfer: Cooperation on issues of trade, technology transfer, intellectual property policies for climate mitigation and adaptation.
• Just climate transition in the trade context: the UNFCCC principle of common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC) and the WTO principle of special and differential treatment (SDT) in the climate-trade context.
• Climate, trade and sustainable agriculture intersections: The relevance of agricultural trade reforms to climate action and sustainable development, including issues of environmentally-harmful agricultural subsidies; standards for sustainable agricultural trade; deforestation and land-use changes associated with agriculture and commodities trade; and sustainable supply chain initiatives.
• Climate, trade and industrial policy intersection: Trade policy frameworks and green industrial policies for climate action, including opportunities and challenges for developing countries.
• Climate, trade and circular economy intersection: Trade policies and circular economy measures to reduce emissions linked to resource extraction and manufacturing.
• International trade-related transport emissions: Options and strategies for enhanced cooperation to reduce transport emissions as central to decarbonizing trade.
• Environmental goods and services: Trade policy options, opportunities and challenges related to promoting trade in climate-related environmental goods and services.
• Carbon pricing: Options for international cooperation on carbon pricing and issues for trade and trade policy.
• Fossil-fuel subsidy reform (FFSR): Opportunities for enhanced cooperation at the UNFCCC and the WTO on fossil fuel subsidy reform.
• Climate standards: climate-related international standards and international trade, state of play, challenges and opportunities, as well as options for enhanced coordination.
• Green Aid for trade, trade finance, and climate action: Options for greening Aid for Trade and trade finance to support climate mitigation and adaptation and the push for net-zero trade finance.
• Trade, debt and climate finance: exploring linkages between the debt burden facing developing countries, trade and financing for climate action, and policy options.

To stay informed about the future events, follow us on Twitter @TESSForum and LinkedIn and sign up for TESS updates at www.tessforum.org.