Action on Trade is Necessary for Businesses to Unlock Net Zero Targets, Study Finds
public.affairs@weforum.org
- Study finds businesses are actively pursuing or ready to accelerate emissions reduction programmes, and trade policy action can accelerate this shift
- Eight actions could help adapt the complex global trading system for climate action
- Solutions to mobilise trade policy to support climate action include, reducing tariffs on climate-friendly goods, unlocking access to technology, and aligning on carbon-based trade policies
- The World Economic Forum is launching a public-private programme to continue dialogue on these issues
- Read the full report and learn more about our Sustainable Development Impact Summit
Geneva, Switzerland, 20 September 2021 — For businesses to reach their emission targets, the global trading system needs to adapt, and businesses are calling for the change.
These are the main findings of the Delivering a Climate Trade Agenda: Industry Insights Report released today by the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Clifford Chance.
The six-month study is based on research and interviews with global companies, across sectors including transport, energy, manufacturing, and consumer goods. The objective of the research process was to identify necessary changes to the current global trade system and how to better incentivize and accelerate decarbonization. The resulting study outlines eight key actions that, if taken by governments and businesses, could make global trade a better enabler of climate action.
Sean Doherty, Head of International Trade and Investment said: “Traditionally, trade and climate policy-making has happened in separate silos. The urgency of the climate crisis calls for us to break down these silos through public-private cooperation in order to accelerate emissions reductions while achieving prosperity for all. The good news for policy makers is businesses are ready and willing to support this change.”
Jessica Gladstone, Partner at Clifford Chance said: “International trade will play a key role in achieving a just transition to a low-carbon sustainable global economy. Businesses stand ready to lead in this transition, but governments can support by ensuring the right legislative and regulatory structures are in place. Our report explores global and domestic policy actions that can create climate-friendly trade that is fair, transparent, and has technology and innovation at its core.”
Interviews revealed the following ways for trade to support businesses to decarbonize and grow sustainably:
Tariff reductions on key goods
Addressing non-tariff distortions in parallel
Phasing out fossil fuel subsidies
Building coherence around carbon-based trade policies
Supporting trade in digital and climate-related services
Encouraging climate-smart agriculture
Aligning trade agreements with climate commitments
Facilitating green investment
The chart below provides examples of how the global trading system can through continued dialogue between governments and the private sector put trade to the service of climate action.
The report includes a jointly-authored foreword by the World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Executive Secretary welcoming the insights from business. Major intergovernmental meetings will be held under both organisations in the last quarter of this year.
Business can take steps to encourage alignment of trade rules with climate action. The Forum is today launching a two-year work programme – titled Climate Trade Zero – to support public and private exchange on these issues as part of building a more sustainable trading system.
Many companies also recognized that the transition is taking place at different speeds and levels of intensity across countries and sectors. Interviewees highlighted the importance of providing support and incentives to developing countries, and to supply chain partners in developing countries, to undertake the investments necessary to reduce their emissions.
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