How Can Trade Rules Support Environmental Action?

The briefing argues that international trade must be aligned with sustainable development to address climate change and biodiversity loss. It reviews existing efforts through the WTO and free trade agreements, while proposing specific actions to facilitate the trade of environmental goods and services, eliminate fossil-fuel subsidies, align carbon pricing with trade rules, and advance green government procurement.

• The document identifies a critical need for trade policy-makers to address harmful fisheries subsidies, noting that approximately $22 billion in annual public spending supports overfishing while one-third of global fish stocks are over-exploited.
• While the WTO's Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE) provides a forum for exchange, it has not delivered ambitious action, and previous plurilateral attempts to lower tariffs on environmentally friendly goods failed due to domestic politics and commercial priorities.
• Regional and bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) vary in effectiveness; some, like the USMCA and CPTPP, have binding dispute resolution for environmental provisions, while others rely on cooperation or domestic law.
• To support a circular economy, the document recommends eliminating tariffs on renewable energy and energy efficiency goods, removing barriers to trade in remanufactured goods, and facilitating the trade of scrap and recovered materials.
• Inefficient fossil-fuel subsidies are estimated by the IEA to cost $526 billion annually; the document argues that reducing these would lower emissions and increase the cost of virgin plastics, thereby incentivizing recycling.
• The briefing suggests that carbon pricing regimes and border carbon adjustments must be designed to be fair to trading partners and consistent with international trade rules to avoid excessive administrative burdens for small and medium-sized enterprises.
• Green government procurement is highlighted as a tool to spur clean technology, noting that the WTO Government Procurement Agreement already facilitates cross-border bids worth approximately $1.7 trillion per year.

APA

Weder, G., Whittaker, J., Naas, P., & Thorn, S. (2020). How Can Trade Rules Support Environmental Action? World Economic Forum. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GFC_Briefing_on_Trade_and_Environment_Report_2020.pdf

Chicago

Weder, Ghislaine, Janet Whittaker, Penelope Naas, and Sarah Thorn. How Can Trade Rules Support Environmental Action? World Economic Forum, 2020. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GFC_Briefing_on_Trade_and_Environment_Report_2020.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Weder |first1=Ghislaine |last2=Whittaker |first2=Janet |last3=Naas |first3=Penelope |last4=Thorn |first4=Sarah |title=How Can Trade Rules Support Environmental Action? |publisher=World Economic Forum |date=March 2020 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GFC_Briefing_on_Trade_and_Environment_Report_2020.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{weder2020how, author = {Weder, Ghislaine and Whittaker, Janet and Naas, Penelope and Thorn, Sarah}, title = {{How Can Trade Rules Support Environmental Action?}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2020}, month = mar, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GFC_Briefing_on_Trade_and_Environment_Report_2020.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }