Fostering Cooperation on Sustainable Agriculture and Trade at the WTO

The author argues that while governments can implement unilateral trade-related tools to promote sustainable agriculture, transboundary environmental challenges require multilateral coordination through the WTO. The paper identifies three 'windows of opportunity' for the WTO: addressing environmentally harmful agricultural subsidies, managing sustainability requirements and standards to reduce costs for developing countries, and utilizing the new work program on food insecurity to build resilience in least developed countries and net food-importing developing countries (NFIDCs).

• Agriculture is a major driver of environmental degradation and climate change, contributing nearly 25% of global emissions when including forestry and other land use, according to the IPCC. The sector also fails to ensure food security, with the number of people facing hunger rising to 828 million in 2021.
• Trade policies can either exacerbate environmental issues or support sustainability. While 80% of the world's population lives in net food-importing countries, agricultural markets are thin—with only 23% of production traded internationally on average—leaving many countries vulnerable to price volatility and supply chain disruptions.
• The author suggests the WTO address environmentally harmful agricultural subsidies by identifying a 'negative list' of unequivocally unsustainable practices, such as input subsidies for prohibited chemicals or mechanical tillage. This would align with the Global Biodiversity Framework's goal to reduce such subsidies by at least USD 500 billion annually by 2030.
• To mitigate the compliance costs for developing country exporters facing unilateral sustainability requirements—such as EU and UK deforestation-free supply chain due diligence—the WTO could explore positive incentives like increased market access for sustainable goods and the use of voluntary standards to demonstrate regulatory compliance.
• The WTO's work program on food insecurity offers a chance to modernize rules to support least developed countries and NFIDCs. This includes rethinking disciplines on export restrictions, public stockholding policies, and providing technical assistance to build climate-resilient food systems.

APA

Bellmann, C. (2023). Fostering Cooperation on Sustainable Agriculture and Trade at the WTO. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/articles/policy-analysis/fostering-cooperation-sustainable-agriculture-trade-wto

Chicago

Bellmann, Christophe. Fostering Cooperation on Sustainable Agriculture and Trade at the WTO. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2023. https://www.iisd.org/articles/policy-analysis/fostering-cooperation-sustainable-agriculture-trade-wto.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bellmann |first1=Christophe |title=Fostering Cooperation on Sustainable Agriculture and Trade at the WTO |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=14 April 2023 |url=https://www.iisd.org/articles/policy-analysis/fostering-cooperation-sustainable-agriculture-trade-wto |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bellmann2023fostering, author = {Bellmann, Christophe}, title = {{Fostering Cooperation on Sustainable Agriculture and Trade at the WTO}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2023}, month = apr, url = {https://www.iisd.org/articles/policy-analysis/fostering-cooperation-sustainable-agriculture-trade-wto}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }