International Trade and Climate Change: From Challenges to Alignment Opportunity

Trade policy has become one of the most debated topics in global politics as political turmoil and deep divides threaten the international order that has been in place since the end of World War II. This session will bring together a diverse group of thought leaders in environmental policy and international trade to discuss how the challenges facing the trade system might be used as an opportunity to reshape World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and practices to be more fit for purpose going forward — delivering a reconfigured political logic that broadens public support and a deeper commitment to the sustainable development mandate in the 1995 Marrakesh Agreement that created the WTO.

The session will explore the full spectrum of trade system issues that policymakers must address as well as the obstacles that must be overcome. In bringing together participants from a range of perspectives and disciplines, this event will encourage a broad-gauge, frank, and lively discussion about where and how trade system reform might be advanced to promote economic prosperity, progress on climate change, and sustainability more broadly.