IISD at Geneva Trade Week 2022
IISD will be participating in the 2022 edition of Geneva Trade Week, which will take place in person and online from September 26-30, 2022. The Geneva Trade Week is convened by the Geneva Trade Platform alongside the WTO Public Forum, complementing those conversations taking place at WTO headquarters throughout the week.
This year’s edition of Geneva Trade Week will take a deep dive into various issues at the nexus of trade and sustainability. It will also focus on the latest developments, key issues, and road ahead for the joint initiatives underway among groups of WTO members, including those on trade and environment, electronic commerce, and investment facilitation. The Geneva Trade Platform is based within the Geneva Graduate Institute’s Centre for Trade and Economic Integration.
Below are the sessions where IISD speakers will be participating. Please note that registration for all sessions can be completed through the Geneva Trade Week website.
Events
Advancing Sustainability in Agriculture – Multilateral Options
September 26, 2022, at 16:00 CET
Registration: https://genevatradeweek.ch/agenda/agriculture-subsidies/
This session will look specifically at the role of the multilateral trading system, including the WTO, in supporting efforts to make the agricultural sector more sustainable, in parallel to the ongoing negotiations among WTO members on issues such as agricultural domestic support, public stockholding for food security, and the Special Safeguard Mechanism. This session is being convened jointly by the Geneva Trade Platform and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
IISD’s Facundo Calvo will participate in this discussion.
What Business Should Know: Investment Facilitation for Development
September 27, 2022, at 16:00 CET
Registration: https://genevatradeweek.ch/agenda/the-wto-and-sustainability-an-update-2/
This session will look at the Joint Initiative on Investment Facilitation for Development, where negotiations are currently underway among a group of WTO Members for an agreement on investment facilitation. Speakers will include the current co-convenors of that initiative as well as representatives from the World Economic Forum, IISD, and the International Trade Centre. The session will feature an update on the negotiating state-of-play, the objectives that this proposed agreement aims to fulfill, and what such an agreement would mean for the private sector and other stakeholders.
IISD’s Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder will participate in this session.
What Business Should Know: The E-Commerce Plurilateral
September 28, 2022, at 10:00 CET
Registration: https://genevatradeweek.ch/agenda/what-business-should-know-the-e-commerce-plurilateral/
The e-commerce negotiations among a group of WTO members are seeking to establish new rules on digital trade among a significant proportion of the world’s economies – but what would these rules entail and what would their implications be for the private sector?
This session will unpack what the negotiations’ objectives are, what the talks do and do not cover, the current negotiating state-of-play, and what the private sector and other stakeholders should know.
IISD’s Rashmi Jose will participate in this plenary session.
Upcoming events
Integrating Voluntary Sustainability Standards in Trade Agreements: Charting a path for sustainable trade
This webinar will explore recent trends, challenges, and opportunities related to the integration of voluntary standards in trade policy, with a focus on free trade agreements (FTAs).
WTO agriculture negotiations on domestic support: making new rules work for LDCs and other vulnerable economies
This webinar will bring research insights for WTO delegates, advancing domestic support negotiations pre-MC14 and aiding vulnerable economies.
2024 Investment Policy Forum
The 16th edition of the International Institute for Sustainable Development's (IISD) Investment Policy Forum will be held in Manila, the Philippines, in October 2024.
Working With Countries to Measure Wealth and Move Beyond GDP
IISD and experts share new "beyond GDP" reports from Ethiopia, Indonesia, and Trinidad and Tobago, building the case for measures of wealth to help guide government policy making.