Delivering for the Environment at MC12

An analysis by Carolyn Deere Birkbeck of the Forum on Trade, Environment and the SDGs regarding opportunities for the World Trade Organization (WTO) to address environmental crises and sustainable development during its 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12).

• The primary environmental objective for Ministers at MC12 is to reach a balanced and meaningful agreement on fishery subsidies to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, as well as overcapacity and overfishing that deplete fish stocks and damage marine ecosystems.
• The Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions (TESSD), launched in November 2020 by 53 WTO members and co-convened by Canada and Costa Rica, serves as an informal space to exchange views and develop roadmaps for cooperation on climate, nature loss, and pollution without binding members to new multilateral rules or market access commitments.
• Over 65 WTO members intend to issue a ministerial statement on plastic pollution at MC12, building on the Informal Dialogue on Plastic Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade (IDP) launched in November 2020 by 16 members, including China and Fiji.
• A group of 43 WTO members, including the US, UK, Japan, the European Union, and various small island developing states (SIDS), will issue a statement on fossil fuel subsidy reform to improve information sharing and advance disciplines on inefficient subsidies while protecting poor and affected communities in developing countries.
• A critical challenge for multilateral environmental efforts is ensuring that ambition is paired with an approach that treats developing countries as partners, addressing their specific trade priorities and sustainable development interests to avoid a 'two-tier global economy'.

APA

Birkbeck, C. D. (2021). Delivering for the Environment at MC12. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/articles/mc12-prospects-enhance-trade-cooperation

Chicago

Birkbeck, Carolyn Deere. Delivering for the Environment at MC12. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2021. https://www.iisd.org/articles/mc12-prospects-enhance-trade-cooperation.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Birkbeck |first1=Carolyn Deere |title=Delivering for the Environment at MC12 |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=24 November 2021 |url=https://www.iisd.org/articles/mc12-prospects-enhance-trade-cooperation |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{birkbeck2021delivering, author = {Birkbeck, Carolyn Deere}, title = {{Delivering for the Environment at MC12}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2021}, month = nov, url = {https://www.iisd.org/articles/mc12-prospects-enhance-trade-cooperation}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }