Inside WTO Public Forum & Geneva Trade Week 2025

Geneva Trade Week 2025, presented by the Geneva Trade Platform, brought together public sessions, expert gatherings, and networking opportunities across Geneva from September 15 to 18. Designed to complement and build momentum for the World Trade Organization (WTO) Public Forum, it offered a chance to engage on pressing trade and sustainability issues; connect with leaders from business, government, and civil society; and take part in dialogues that shape the global trade agenda. 

The WTO Public Forum, held September 17 and 18, is the organization’s flagship outreach event, drawing in thousands of participants from around the world. Under the theme “Enhance, create, and preserve,” this year’s forum focused on the digital transformations reshaping the global economy—exploring how innovation can widen market access, improve sustainability, and strengthen cooperation within the international trading system.

IISD at Geneva Trade Week

Monday, September 15 | Trade and Industrial Policy: An opportunity for a new sustainability wave?

• Organized by IISD
• Monday, September 15, 2025, 13:30–15:00 CEST, Geneva Graduate Institute

This session examined the recent surge in industrial policies, exploring how governments are responding to economic and social pressures while seeking to position themselves in future green markets. Discussions focused on what these shifts mean for trade policy, their impact on workers and businesses, and the key decisions policy-makers face in aligning industrial and trade policies to support a more sustainable global economy.

IISD at the Public Forum

Wednesday, September 17 | Agriculture and Trade Disruptors

• Organized by Canola Council of Canada and Canadian Cattle Association.
• Wednesday, September 17, 2025, 13:30–14:45 CEST, Room S3, WTO.
• Alice Tipping will moderate.

This session examined how agriculture can adapt to key trade disruptors—such as digitalization, sustainability, and shifts in the global order—and the role of the WTO in maintaining a rules-based trading system while supporting high-quality, resilient, and productive agricultural systems.

Thursday, September 18 | 20 Years of IISD’s Global Subsidies Initiative and Reception

• Organized by IISD. More information and registration here.
• Thursday, September 18, 2025, 17:00–18:15 CEST, Room E, WTO.

This session marked 20 years of the Global Subsidies Initiative with a high-level panel exploring the past, present, and future of subsidies policy. Discussions focused on how subsidies shape businesses, communities, and the environment, and how reform can realign incentives to support sustainability objectives.

During the week, IISD also held two invitation-only events: our Third Roundtable on Green Industrial Policies and a briefing session for WTO Missions and visiting experts on our recently published Guidance on Border Carbon Adjustment.