Climate and Trade Cooperation after the Thirteenth WTO Ministerial Conference: Quo Vadis

The author argues that the Thirteenth WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) failed to produce tangible progress on climate-related trade issues due to geopolitical tensions and opposition from members like India. While some plurilateral initiatives and external coalitions showed modest activity, the document suggests that success should now be measured by the revitalization of the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment and the development of non-binding codes of conduct rather than binding multilateral agreements.

• The Thirteenth WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) failed to deliver significant progress on climate-related trade issues, with the resulting Abu Dhabi Declaration merely recalling existing "sustainable development" commitments from the 1994 Marrakesh Agreement.
• India has actively opposed the integration of climate and environment into the WTO's formal agenda, asserting that trade and environment are separate issues, which contrasts with the positions of other developing nations like Paraguay and Brazil.
• Despite the lack of multilateral consensus, some progress was made through plurilateral initiatives, including the Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions (TESSD), the New Zealand-led Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform (FFSR) initiative, and the Dialogue on Plastics Pollution (DPP).
• The document proposes that realistic benchmarks for future WTO success should focus on revitalizing the Committee on Trade and Environment and establishing non-binding instruments, such as best practice principles for carbon markets and green industrial policy.

APA

Kleimann, D., Keane, J., & Robertson, M. (2024). Climate and Trade Cooperation after the Thirteenth WTO Ministerial Conference: Quo Vadis. Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs. https://tessforum.org/latest/climate-and-trade-cooperation-after-the-thirteenth-wto-ministerial-conference-quo-vadis

Chicago

Kleimann, David, Jodie Keane, and Michai Robertson. Climate and Trade Cooperation after the Thirteenth WTO Ministerial Conference: Quo Vadis. Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs, 2024. https://tessforum.org/latest/climate-and-trade-cooperation-after-the-thirteenth-wto-ministerial-conference-quo-vadis.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kleimann |first1=David |last2=Keane |first2=Jodie |last3=Robertson |first3=Michai |title=Climate and Trade Cooperation after the Thirteenth WTO Ministerial Conference: Quo Vadis |publisher=Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs |date=7 March 2024 |url=https://tessforum.org/latest/climate-and-trade-cooperation-after-the-thirteenth-wto-ministerial-conference-quo-vadis |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kleimann2024climate, author = {Kleimann, David and Keane, Jodie and Robertson, Michai}, title = {{Climate and Trade Cooperation after the Thirteenth WTO Ministerial Conference: Quo Vadis}}, institution = {Forum on Trade, Environment, \& the SDGs}, year = {2024}, month = mar, url = {https://tessforum.org/latest/climate-and-trade-cooperation-after-the-thirteenth-wto-ministerial-conference-quo-vadis}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }