* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Many current rules at the World Trade Organization are set up in a way which actively obstructs climate action
Laurey Boughey is senior policy advisor at Traidcraft Exchange
A lot can happen in four years.
The last time the world’s governments got together to talk trade in late 2017, Covid was years away, we weren’t facing a global food crisis, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was yet to set a 2030 deadline to avoid irreversible climate catastrophe.
Next week, trade ministers will meet at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva. They must show they can respond to these global emergencies.
Take climate change. Many current rules at the WTO are set up in a way which actively obstructs climate action. WTO rules are already being used to challenge countries' climate policies: India, the EU, China, the United States and Canada have all been challenged for their efforts to grow their renewable energy sectors by supporting local green industries, and last month the UK was added to this list.
Back in 2012 a Canadian renewable energy scheme was scaled back after the WTO ruled measures to support local production of the inputs needed were illegal. Ten years later the UK is getting into hot water for trying to support local inputs for offshore wind production.
Trade rules cannot be allowed to stall climate action for another ten years if we are to achieve the massive transition to renewable energy and green technology needed.
Countries will increasingly be ramping up their climate policies to meet Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) set out under the Paris Agreement. Both governments and businesses need a clear signal from the WTO that trade rules will not get in the way.
This problem is particularly acute for developing countries, whose future growth will depend on the ability to leapfrog fossil-fuel intensive development.
The latest technology for solar power, water conservation or electric vehicles is often created in developed countries, where it remains protected behind long patents under WTO rules. Developing countries face high prices to import these essential goods and services, but are blocked from developing more affordable, local-specific versions by these 'intellectual property' rules.
This is why there is so much at stake in Geneva. It represents an opportunity for world powers either to demonstrate their intent to reform the trade system or to stick with the damaging status quo.
Signs in the run-up to the WTO meeting have been mixed.
Following COP26 last year, ministers representing a number of countries launched three joint statements, addressing the links between trade and the environment. This represented a welcome acknowledgement of how trade and climate issues connect, and an important show of collective political will to take action.
But reports of the general agreement due to come out of the upcoming WTO meeting suggest countries are settling for business as usual, with trade priorities placed above much-needed action on climate.
Much more is needed. Countries need to kickstart the process of reforming WTO rules in favour of climate action.
An important first step would be the establishment of a ‘climate waiver’. This would temporarily lift certain WTO trade rules, so countries could pursue policies to meet climate objectives. Reform of WTO rules is a long and difficult process, and a waiver would give countries much needed certainty and flexibility now, when it is needed.
Momentum for this proposal is building, with support from senior ex-WTO figures and from UNCTAD, the UN body for trade and development. Ahead of the WTO meeting, Traidcraft Exchange is joined by a consortium of environmental organisations, unions and development charities in calling for a climate waiver.
Beyond this first step, countries must also build on the joint statements and provide the impetus for greater collaboration between countries. A positive move would be the creation of a forum to bring trade, environment and development ministers together to discuss a shared agenda, such as how to accelerate climate technology transfer and finance for developing countries, under the UNFCCC and COP.
These are not steps that, in isolation, will deliver the climate action that is needed. But by committing to better align trade and climate rules at least, they would start to shift one of the key obstacles to addressing the global climate emergency.
