Opportunities for trade policy and cooperation to shift course on climate change and nature loss

The statement asserts that the global economy is highly exposed to nature and climate risks, with potential GDP losses of $2.7 trillion annually by 2030. It identifies key opportunities for transformation, including the alignment of trade policy with the Paris Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the elimination of environmentally harmful subsidies. The author calls for a shift from short-term crisis management to strategic, long-term sectoral pathways consistent with net-zero and nature-positive goals, suggesting the use of plurilateral agreements and initiatives like the Integrated Forum on Climate Change and Trade.

• The global economy faces significant financial risks from the collapse of ecosystem services, which could lead to an annual global GDP decline of $2.7 trillion by 2030, disproportionately affecting low-income and lower-middle-income countries.
• Environmentally harmful public subsidies total approximately $2.6 trillion annually, which in turn enables an estimated $5 trillion in private financing for activities that degrade ecosystems or accelerate natural resource depletion.
• There is a strategic opportunity to reform the international trading system and the World Trade Organization (WTO) to place nature, climate, and sustainable development at the center of their priorities, building on the precedent set by the first fisheries subsidies agreement.
• To achieve nature-positive and net-zero goals, the global community must transition from short-term crisis management toward strategic trade scenarios, national sectoral pathways, and innovative mechanisms such as the Integrated Forum on Climate Change and Trade launched at COP30.

APA

Sumba, D. (2025). Opportunities for trade policy and cooperation to shift course on climate change and nature loss. Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs. https://tessforum.org/latest/opportunities-for-trade-policy-and-cooperation-to-shift-course-on-climate-change-and-nature-loss

Chicago

Sumba, Daudi. Opportunities for trade policy and cooperation to shift course on climate change and nature loss. Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs, 2025. https://tessforum.org/latest/opportunities-for-trade-policy-and-cooperation-to-shift-course-on-climate-change-and-nature-loss.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Sumba |first1=Daudi |title=Opportunities for trade policy and cooperation to shift course on climate change and nature loss |publisher=Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs |date=8 December 2025 |url=https://tessforum.org/latest/opportunities-for-trade-policy-and-cooperation-to-shift-course-on-climate-change-and-nature-loss |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{sumba2025opportunities, author = {Sumba, Daudi}, title = {{Opportunities for trade policy and cooperation to shift course on climate change and nature loss}}, publisher = {Forum on Trade, Environment, \& the SDGs}, year = {2025}, month = dec, url = {https://tessforum.org/latest/opportunities-for-trade-policy-and-cooperation-to-shift-course-on-climate-change-and-nature-loss}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }