Reviving multilateralism

The document argues that while the WTO has historically neglected the environment, there is a current paradigm shift toward recognizing trade's role in addressing climate change and biodiversity loss. It assesses the outcomes of the Thirteenth Ministerial Conference (MC13), highlighting failures in fisheries subsidies and the absence of explicit climate commitments in the Ministerial Declaration, while noting progress in plurilateral initiatives like the Dialogue on Plastic Pollution. Experts propose reforming subsidy rules for fossil fuels and agriculture, leveraging 'Aid for Trade' for just transitions, and adopting the legal principle of 'Common Concern of Humankind' to guide trade law. The report emphasizes the need for regulatory alignment on circular economy principles and the ability of the WTO to coordinate trade-related climate measures, such as Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms, to avoid global trade fragmentation.

• The WTO is experiencing a paradigm shift where members now explicitly recognize trade's role in addressing climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, moving away from a history of 'benign neglect' toward the environment.
• The Thirteenth Ministerial Conference (MC13) was largely disappointing due to the failure to conclude phase two of fisheries negotiations and the lack of explicit climate commitments in the Abu Dhabi Ministerial Declaration.
• Uncoordinated national environmental actions, such as carbon pricing and green industrial subsidies, risk fragmenting world trade and creating trade conflicts.
• The 'Common Concern of Humankind' (CCH) is an emerging legal principle that could justify the interpretation of trade law to support climate mitigation and the use of 'split tariffs' to incentivize the energy transition.
• Global fossil fuel subsidies are estimated at approximately $600 billion annually, and the WTO is identified as a key forum for coordinating their reform to support a just transition.
• The EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) faces criticism from the Global South for its unilateral nature and potential to shift the economic burden of emissions reduction to developing countries.
• There is a significant technology gap between developed and developing nations regarding climate technologies, which requires enhanced international cooperation and the strategic use of TRIPS flexibilities.
• New corporate accountability tools, such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, are shifting trade-related disputes from the WTO dispute settlement system to national courts.
• The transition to a circular economy is currently dominated by end-of-life and waste disposal measures, with only 30% of notified WTO measures targeting upstream activities like product design.
• Agricultural subsidies are largely harmful to the environment, with an estimated 87% of the $540 billion spent annually being price-distorting and damaging to health and nature.
• Aid for Trade is essential for a just transition in developing countries, particularly for LDCs where climate adaptation costs can range from 5% to 22% of GDP.
• The Dialogue on Plastic Pollution (DPP) is cited as a successful model of a plurilateral initiative that prepares the trading system for international environmental norms being developed at the UN.

APA

Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs (2024). Reviving multilateralism. https://lyrical-cormorant.files.svdcdn.com/production/assets/images/Publications/Synergies-Compilation-Reviving-Multilateralism.pdf?dm=1728563781

Chicago

Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs. Reviving multilateralism. 2024. https://lyrical-cormorant.files.svdcdn.com/production/assets/images/Publications/Synergies-Compilation-Reviving-Multilateralism.pdf?dm=1728563781.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs |title=Reviving multilateralism |date=September 2024 |url=https://lyrical-cormorant.files.svdcdn.com/production/assets/images/Publications/Synergies-Compilation-Reviving-Multilateralism.pdf?dm=1728563781 |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{forumontradeenvironmentthesdgs2024reviving, author = {{Forum on Trade, Environment, \& the SDGs}}, title = {{Reviving multilateralism}}, institution = {Forum on Trade, Environment, \& the SDGs}, year = {2024}, month = sep, url = {https://lyrical-cormorant.files.svdcdn.com/production/assets/images/Publications/Synergies-Compilation-Reviving-Multilateralism.pdf?dm=1728563781}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }