“MC14 is now within sight. We the co-convenors, and the facilitators of the Working Groups, are all focused on having this year’s set of meetings be as concrete and productive as possible so that we can achieve the ambitious outcomes for MC14 envisaged at the high-level plenary meeting in December,” said Richard Tarasofsky of Canada, which co-convenes TESSD together with Costa Rica.

Three TESSD working groups advanced technical work in their respective discussions at the meeting. The fourth, the Working Group on Trade-related Climate Measures, plans to hold its first 2025 meeting in May with a view to ensuring complementarity with the work carried out in the Committee on Trade and Environment.

In the Working Group on Environmental Goods and Services (EGS), members discussed trade in goods and services in support of sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation. Presentations by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) highlighted the importance of climate technologies and agrometeorological services to increase resilience to climate change impacts and support farmers with decision-making. Members also examined horizontal issues affecting trade in environmental goods and services, such as technical regulations and other non-tariff measures, and heard presentations by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and an agricultural technology company, Spowdi.

In the Working Group on Circular Economy-Circularity, members focused on the textile sector and considered presentations by China on its experiences with textile recycling, as well as by Circle Economy, a global impact organization, Chatham House, a think tank, and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and its Kenyan partner Moi University, on challenges and opportunities for trade and circularity in textiles, including regarding extended producer responsibility, Harmonized System (HS) classifications, and regional supply chain dynamics. Members also received an update on the ICC-ITC-WTO MSME Group Small Business Champions Competition on circular economy by the Coordinator of the Informal Working Group on Micro, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (MSMEs), Ambassador Matthew Wilson of Barbados. Applications to participate in the competition can be submitted until 28 March.

In the Working Group on Subsidies, members shared experiences on their support programmes, on challenges for developing economies and on the need for increased transparency on subsidies related to the decarbonization of energy-intensive industries such as steel, aluminium and cement. Presentations were provided by Colombia on the GALTCO (Green Aluminium Transformation Complex for Colombia) project, the OECD on policy incentives for decarbonization in energy-intensive industries, and the World Economic Forum (WEF) on the First Movers Coalition initiative, which aims to create demand for decarbonization technologies, as well as by private sector companies Sarginsons on aluminium, Stegra on steel and Cemex on cement.

Building on the guidance provided during the high-level plenary meeting on 4 December 2024, members also discussed the further development of their planned outcomes in the three working groups in preparation for MC14.

At the close of the one-and-a-half day meeting, Ana Lizano of Costa Rica, TESSD co-convenor, said: “We plan to continue to be actively listening and to build upon these dynamic exchanges to deliver our outcomes by MC14. We look forward to the upcoming TESSD meeting in May to continue substantive discussions, as well as to advance potential outcomes, as outlined by different working groups today. The progress in our discussions will also feed into the planned overarching TESSD outcome that we discussed during the last plenary.”

Presentations and documents related to the working group meetings are available here.

Guided by their 2021 Ministerial Statement, TESSD seeks to complement the work of the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment and advance discussions at the intersection of trade and environmental sustainability towards identifying concrete actions that members could take individually or collectively. The initiative, which is open to all WTO members, is currently co-sponsored by 78 members representing all regions and all levels of development.

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