Triggering the trade transition: the G20’s role in reconciling rules for trade and climate change
There is an inescapable nexus between trade and climate change. Trade activities affect the climate. Climate measures affect trade. Economically, environmentally, and legally under international law, the two are intertwined. Yet this essential realisation is not yet reflected in the agendas of either the World Trade Organization or the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. As a powerful forum for discussion and policy coordination that brings together the world’s major economies and emitters, the G20 has the potential to spur global rule-making to prevent a collision between the trade and climate regimes and move both towards more affirmative actions by reimagining trade rules to support the fight against climate change.