1.
SUSTAINABLE TRADE AFTER COVID 19:
The case for a global, green and just recovery
Céline Charveriat & Carolyn Deere Birkbeck
WTO World Environment Day webinar, June 4th, 2020

2.
State-of-Play post-COVID:
the role of trade in a global,
green, and just recovery
• Flattening the emissions curve:
Insufficient progress on internalising
environmental costs and benefits of
trade
• Effects of the crisis on the
sustainability of trade likely be
mixed
• A polarised post-COVID debate on
trade

3.
The imperative of risk-proofing prosperity:
bouncing forward, not bouncing back
• Fundamentals of sustainable
growth and prosperity
• The new normal: Achieving
prosperity in a state of “permanent
crisis”
• Rethinking cost benefit analysis
considering systemic risks caused
by covariant shocks
• For countries highly dependent on
trade:
• Adaptation of trade infrastructure
and sectors depending on trade to
multiple shocks but also new
requirements post COVID (e.g. SPS)
• Challenges posed by risk mitigation
within supply chains + changing
consumer preferences

4.
5 key areas for action
• Promoting green and just recovery
pathways
• Making green economy the new
normal
• Phase-out of the “brown” economy
• Equitable sharing of benefits, burden
and risks of greening trade
• Enable/support developing countries
in line with SDGs

5.
What should
policymakers
do?

6.
www.ieep.eu @IEEP_eu
Green Trade for Green Recovery initiative at the G20
• rapid recovery of sustainable sectors (such as sustainable tourism).
• address green capacity constraints through access to trade finance.
• promote low-carbon sectors and products.
• boost green aid for trade and promote green technology transfer for low-
income countries.
Coordinate trade policy response to COVID-related food security challenges in line
with Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD) principles

7.
www.ieep.eu @IEEP_eu
Trade agreements
Take action on new approaches and models for trade and investment cooperation that respond
to urgent Covid-19 related challenges AND
• promote the transition toward a more circular and net-zero global economy
• ensure countries have space to implement the Paris Agreement
• support adaptation to climate change and climate resilience
• advance achievement of the SDGs
Examples:
• Negotiations for a plurilateral Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS)
• Cooperative initiatives such as the Friends of Advancing Sustainable Trade (FAST)

8.
www.ieep.eu @IEEP_eu
WTO
High-level political leadership
on trade and environmental
sustainability
Ministerial Statement on
Environment Sustainability
& Trade at the 2021 WTO
Ministerial Conference to
catalyse more focused
dialogue and action
Immediate action:
WTO agreement on
fish subsidies reform
Create of an independent,
interdisciplinary panel to assess/
advise on sustainability + SDG
impacts/opportunities in
multilateral trade negotiations and
trade recovery initiatives
Integrate environmental
sustainability & resilience
across WTO negotiations
& WTO reform
discussions
Reinvigorate WTO
Committee on
Trade and
Environment (CTE)
Intensify engagement &
multi-stakeholder
partnerships at national +
international level,
including through UNEP-
WTO Platform