The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is organizing the inaugural Trade and Sustainability Hub at the sidelines of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12). The event will convene leading international speakers representing a diversity of stakeholders and perspectives to mobilize collective and multi-stakeholder action needed for deep-seated reforms.
The Hub, taking place from 1-3 November, will primarily be a digital conference that will bring together over 50 organizations from civil society, business, and governments to participate in over 30 sessions focused on creating a more sustainable trade regime.
The event is being launched in light of growing recognition that the global trade regime needs to be made fit-for-purpose to tackle today’s urgent global challenges and fulfil the ambitions set out under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Depending on the way trade policy is designed and implemented, it can either help or hinder efforts to tackle income and wealth inequality, eradicate extreme poverty, end hunger, transition to low-carbon forms of production, and address gender-related inequities.
Sessions will cover issues ranging from transitioning to a more circular economy to fisheries subsidies to carbon pricing and border adjustment mechanisms. Specific topics include, among many others:
- Perspectives on sustainable recovery, trade, and transition to a circular economy, by Finland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
- Sustainable trade in supporting global green value chains, by the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED);
- Role of the Group of 20 (G20) in sustaining and improving WTO rules for sustainable development purposes, by the G20 Trade and Investment Research Network (TIRN);
- Environmental initiatives at MC12: regional views on ways forward, by the Forum on Trade, Environment & SDGs (TESS); and
- Aligning trade and climate policy for least developed countries (LDCs) and graduates, by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).
MC12, which is being held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 30 November to 3 December 2021, is a crucial opportunity to highlight the links between trade and sustainable development and to start charting a path forward for the multilateral trade system (MTS) that goes beyond short-term gains to look at long-term impact. It is a critical time to develop and amplify policy solutions oriented towards advancing a more sustainable trade regime.
The Trade and Sustainability Hub is open and freely accessible to all audience members. For more information on the event and to register, please visit our virtual event platform.