Trade ministers must pull their weight on climate action

The Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs argues that the lack of a formal, ministerial-level international agenda for climate and trade leads to policy silos and trade tensions. The author proposes the creation of a Trade Ministers’ Coalition for Cooperation on Climate Action to align global trade flows with the Paris Agreement and ensure a just transition.

• The intersection of trade and climate policies is essential for meeting Paris Agreement goals, as achieving these targets requires significant changes to the geography of trade flows and the organization of global value chains. However, the absence of a global carbon pricing system leads to domestic policies that trigger competitiveness concerns and calls for border carbon adjustments.
• There is currently no official 'climate and trade' agenda at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) or the World Trade Organization (WTO). While the WTO's Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions (TESSD) provide some multilateral dialogue, the lack of ministerial-level coordination causes policymaking to occur in silos and increases uncertainty and mistrust.
• The author proposes establishing a Trade Ministers’ Coalition for Cooperation on Climate Action, modeled after the Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action. This coalition would ideally consist of 40 trade ministers, including G20 members and a diverse range of countries from all regions, to forge a shared vision and solve complex issues regarding fairness, transparency, and competitiveness.
• A proposed coalition of trade ministers would focus on several immediate priorities: accelerating the shift from carbon-intensive trade, promoting trade in environmental goods and services, coordinating regulatory approaches to climate action, cooperating on international trade standards, supporting supply chain resilience against climate shocks, and aligning commodities, agriculture, and forest trade with nature and climate goals.

APA

Birkbeck, C. D. (2021). Trade ministers must pull their weight on climate action. Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs. https://tessforum.org/latest/trade-ministers-must-pull-their-weight-on-climate-action

Chicago

Birkbeck, Carolyn Deere. Trade ministers must pull their weight on climate action. Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs, 2021. https://tessforum.org/latest/trade-ministers-must-pull-their-weight-on-climate-action.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Birkbeck |first1=Carolyn Deere |title=Trade ministers must pull their weight on climate action |publisher=Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs |date=8 October 2021 |url=https://tessforum.org/latest/trade-ministers-must-pull-their-weight-on-climate-action |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{birkbeck2021trade, author = {Birkbeck, Carolyn Deere}, title = {{Trade ministers must pull their weight on climate action}}, publisher = {Forum on Trade, Environment, \& the SDGs}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://tessforum.org/latest/trade-ministers-must-pull-their-weight-on-climate-action}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }