Trade Policy Tools and Instruments for Addressing Climate Change and Sustainable Development

The text consists of remarks by David Runnalls at the Trade Ministers’ Dialogue on Climate Change Issues in Bali (2007). He asserts that climate change threatens global GDP and human well-being, potentially leading to the failure of the multilateral trading system if left unaddressed. Runnalls highlights that the UNFCCC and WTO frameworks are mutually supportive and suggests four primary areas of linkage: direct impacts of climate change on trade infrastructure, competitiveness impacts of national climate actions, legal interactions between the two regimes, and the use of trade policy to benefit the climate. Specifically, he proposes liberalizing trade in low-carbon goods, reducing fossil fuel subsidies, creating special rules for environmental subsidies, and improving technology transfer and intellectual property rights (IPRs) to facilitate a clean development path for developing countries.

• Unchecked climate change is projected to cause a 20% loss of global GDP, with the most severe impacts affecting the poor in developing countries who rely on natural resources and lack adaptation capacity.
• The UNFCCC and the WTO are viewed as complementary regimes; the UNFCCC prohibits measures that act as "disguised restriction on international trade," while the WTO Agreement recognizes the goal of "sustainable development" and the protection of the environment.
• Trade policy can support climate goals through four specific instruments: liberalizing trade in low-carbon goods and removing non-tariff barriers, reducing trade-distorting fossil fuel subsidies, establishing special rules for climate-friendly subsidies, and facilitating technology transfer and IPRs.
• Achieving the mitigation goals of the UNFCCC is estimated to require additional global investment and finance flows of approximately 200 to 210 billion per annum, primarily sourced from private investment.

APA

Runnalls, D. (2007). Trade Policy Tools and Instruments for Addressing Climate Change and Sustainable Development. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/trade_policy_tools_bali.pdf

Chicago

Runnalls, David. Trade Policy Tools and Instruments for Addressing Climate Change and Sustainable Development. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2007. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/trade_policy_tools_bali.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Runnalls |first1=David |title=Trade Policy Tools and Instruments for Addressing Climate Change and Sustainable Development |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=December 2007 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/trade_policy_tools_bali.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{runnalls2007trade, author = {Runnalls, David}, title = {{Trade Policy Tools and Instruments for Addressing Climate Change and Sustainable Development}}, publisher = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2007}, month = dec, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/trade_policy_tools_bali.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }