08/11/2021 (Agence Europe) – Washington and Beijing joined the authors of the Initiative on Trade and Environmental Sustainability at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Thursday 4 November. It was launched a year ago and aims to promote transparency and information sharing, support technical assistance, particularly for the least developed countries, and provide results on environmental sustainability. It now has 56 participants. “Growing the number of co-sponsors and bringing new voices into the conversation will help to strengthen the Initiative as a place to generate ideas”, said Stephen de Boer, project co-coordinator at the WTO. Participants also expressed their support for the draft Ministerial Declaration on Environmental Sustainability, to be adopted during the 12th Ministerial Conference in December. The document sets out a roadmap for the work to follow. (LM)