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On January 19, it was announced at the World Economic Forum
Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland that the European Commission,
EU member states and 26 partner countries would launch a
“Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate.” According to
the press release, the coalition, which is the first
ministerial-level global forum, will “foster global action to
promote trade policies that can help address climate change through
local and global initiatives” and seek to “identify the
ways in which trade policy can contribute to addressing climate
change.” Trade ministers will “provide political guidance
and identify trade-related strategies to adapt to changing climate
conditions and extreme weather,” such as, for example, the
production and promotion of climate-friendly technologies. EU trade
commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis explained that the creation of the
coalition was “just the beginning” of international
cooperation among finance ministers and other stakeholders “to
become a truly global and inclusive platform for concrete actions
and ideas.”
The coalition is open to all interested countries, and is
currently comprised of over 50 ministers from 27 jurisdictions. The
four co-leads are Ecuador, the EU, Kenya, and New Zealand. The
other participants are: Angola, Australia, Barbados, Cabo Verde,
Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Iceland, Gambia, Japan (Foreign
Affairs & Trade), Republic of Korea, Maldives, Mozambique,
Norway, Philippines, Rwanda, Zambia, Singapore, Switzerland,
Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States and Vanuatu.
The next meeting of the coalition will take place alongside the
next World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference to be held in
Abu Dhabi in the first quarter of 2024.
Taking The Temperature: This announcement reflects a
continuation of recent announcements of multinational commitments
such as the agreement on loss and damage concluded at
COP27 and the Global Biodiversity Framework announced at
COP15. While these bilateral commitments are notable, their
significance will remain unclear until concrete action is taken to
facilitate the change these coalitions seek to achieve. That being
said, this coalition could have a significant impact on the
environmental technology industry as trade ministers can help
streamline and accelerate the trade of new products across the
globe. Importantly, the coalition intends to carry out its
operations in line with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change alongside the Paris Agreement, which should help minimize
any divergence of standards which undoubtably would increase costs
and regulatory burden. It is unlikely, however, given that the next
proposed meeting is not until 2024, that any change will take place
soon.
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