EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis raised the idea of a global coalition of ministers for climate in October 2021 (see EUROPE 12807/17). The 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has provided an opportunity to make progress on this project.
At a breakfast meeting held on Monday 13 June to focus on this future coalition, the EU, Ecuador, Kenya and New Zealand agreed to work together and to meet once again in July to decide on the next steps to be taken before the coalition is created. Sixteen other countries took part in the breakfast to kick-start the dialogue. “The coalition will put in place joint action to tackle the climate crisis in a fair way, through trade policy”, said Valdis Dombrovskis.
Environmental issues are mostly dealt with multilaterally at the WTO as a result of the difficulties faced in reaching a consensus among all members. For example, the decision taken about harmful fisheries subsidies has been under negotiation for some 20 years now.
Environmental initiatives at the WTO
In December 2021, several groups of members adopted three self-binding declarations on trade and the environment (see EUROPE 12854/9). On the second day of MC12, they summarised the progress they had made working on these three multilateral initiatives, which relate, respectively, to: - trade and sustainable development; - plastic pollution; - fossil fuel subsidies.
On the topic of trade and sustainable development, Costa Rica’s Trade Minister Manuel Tovar Rivera welcomed the fact that two new members – Brazil and Tajikistan – gave their support to the declaration, bringing the total to 73 members. The initiative provides for discussions to be launched on trade-related environmental measures and policies. Mr Tovar Rivera also announced the setting up of four dedicated working groups, respectively on: - environmental services and products; - trade-related climate measures; - the circular economy; - subsidies that harm the environment.
The initiative on plastic pollution has also gained support, with the declaration rising from 63 members in December to a current figure of 72. The group of countries is large and very disparate, according to Australia’s ambassador to the WTO, George Mina.
Finally, Paraguay and the Samoan Islands joined the initiative to fight fossil fuel subsidies, which now brings the number of supporters to 47. They adopted a work programme to develop various avenues and move towards MC13. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)