The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) is organizing its second Trade and Sustainability Hub alongside the World Trade Organization (WTO) Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12) this month. The event aims to gather a global community of stakeholders to discuss how to ensure trade policies contribute to sustainable development.

The 13-15 June event, hosted in partnership with CUTS International, Geneva, and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, will continue the conversations started during the inaugural Trade and Sustainability Hub in December 2021. It will focus particularly on the role of trade and the multilateral trading system (MTS) in the face of a “perfect storm” of crises facing the WTO today, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the global food crisis, rising geopolitical tensions, and the damaging effects of climate change.

There will be four main sessions focusing on:

• The changing role of international trade in the context of relentless supply chain disruptions and the implications for developing countries grappling with life-threatening challenges;
• The global food crisis and the role of the WTO in increasing the global food system’s resilience to such crises;
• The range of environmental challenges facing the planet and how well the multilateral trading system is responding, or not, to the urgency of these challenges; and
• The implications of the digital revolution on trading patterns and the role of trade agreements and WTO negotiations in addressing inequalities in access to e-commerce.

Sessions are being organized by a range of organizations representing a diversity of stakeholders and perspectives, including the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Forum on Trade, Environment and the SDGs (TESS), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Pew Charitable Trusts, Shridath Ramphal Centre at the University of the West Indies (UWI), the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP), and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).

MC12 was originally planned to take place in June 2020 in Kazakhstan but has been postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As trade ministers are set to gather in Geneva, Switzerland, from 12-15 June 2022, there is a critical opportunity to discuss and develop policy solutions oriented towards advancing a more sustainable trade regime.

The Trade and Sustainability Hub is open and freely accessible to all audience members. Most sessions will be available online, and in-person activities will take place at IISD’s premises in Geneva. This will include viewing rooms, refreshments, networking opportunities, and two sessions organized by partners at Queen’s University, Canada: one discussing the international legal dimensions of Russia’s war against Ukraine; and the other exploring the findings of a on multipurpose trade policy.

For more information about the event and to register, please visit our virtual event platform.

You can read SDG Knowledge Hub coverage of 2021 Trade and Sustainability Hub selected events here and here.