Trade and sustainable development

As political momentum grows for transitioning towards low-carbon economies, governments, international agencies, civil society organisations and businesses are grappling with reorienting trade policies towards supporting sustainable development objectives.

For example, international trade and investment treaties increasingly feature provisions on climate, biodiversity, deforestation and labour rights. But questions remain about how trade policies can most effectively promote the social and ecological transitions needed.

Meanwhile, countries are enacting net zero commitments. In the absence of global carbon pricing, this is leading to calls for border carbon adjustments (CBAMs) and raising concerns about the trade and sustainable development prospects for poorer countries.

This project builds on and further develops IIED’s work on trade-related issues to make a distinct contribution to these debates, putting centre stage the environment and climate and the specific needs of the least developed countries (LDCs) and marginalised people in society.

What is IIED doing?

Our work in this project initially focuses on three themes.

Rethinking trade and investment agreements:

• Inform international trade policy, for example, as regards investment dispute settlement, trade preference schemes or the integration of environmental and social issues in trade agreements
• Monitor Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, as well as trade negotiations with other developing countries, and
• Contribute to UN talks and World Trade Organization processes in areas such as fisheries subsidies, investment and integration of climate considerations.

More equitable national and international trade networks: 

• Support equitable integration of small-scale/artisanal fishers and fish workers into national and export markets, and
• Tell the story of women working as the main traders in the small-scale fisheries sector, spotlighting the challenges they face and the solutions they have developed in response.

Promoting trade and climate coherence:

• Engage with LDCs on trade and climate negotiations
• Inform the positions of major importing markets on CBAMs (a measure to ensure that imported goods pay a price for their carbon emissions that is comparable to the price paid by domestic producers) to consider the impacts on the LDCs, and
• Inform ongoing debates on climate and investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS).