Trade Knowledge Sharing

The wide range of issues at play where trade and sustainable development come together are complex and multi-faceted. It is vital that conversations that take place in this space are active, engaged, and informed to help ensure that trade can contribute to poverty eradication, climate mitigation and adaptation, and a just transition. To that end, IISD—with support from the UK government—is undertaking a series of efforts to foster these types of discussions across the various policy communities working in this space.

Trade News and Analysis

IISD’s SDG Knowledge Hub has developed a strong track record on reporting on the achievements of the Sustainable Development Goals across policy areas, from climate policy and fisheries management to development finance. The Hub is now expanding its trade news coverage, including regular updates on the World Trade Organization (WTO), regional trade agreements, leaders’ summits, new research, and other timely developments from this field. Regular updates can be received by e-mail through joining this mailing list.

In November 2020, IISD launched the inaugural issue of the Trade and Sustainability Review, a quarterly magazine on trade analysis and commentary. An electronic community mailing list for those in the trade and sustainable development community is now available for those interested in sharing upcoming events, new publications, and other materials. This community list is set up in the tradition of the various highly regarded Earth Negotiations Bulletin community lists, which IISD is known for. 

UNIGE-IISD Trade and Sustainability Webinar Series

In July 2020, IISD—in partnership with the Université de Genève’s Faculty of Law—launched a regular webinar series on trade and sustainability. The series aims to generate discussion from experts on a range of interconnected issues, such as trade and public health, multilateral investment agreements, sustainability standards, and intellectual property. To learn more and to suggest possible topics or speakers, contact us. 

IISD at the Geneva Trade Week

IISD was the thematic partner for the Sustainability pillar of the Geneva Trade Week 2020, curating sessions and organizing the high-level panel that set the stage for the pillar's discussions. The Geneva Trade Week was organized by the Geneva Trade Platform at the Graduate Institute and held from September 28 to October 2, 2020. This event was primarily virtual. A comprehensive recap of the event was published jointly by the Enhanced Integrated Framework's (EIF) Trade for Development News, IISD's SDG Knowledge Hub, and the IISD blog.

Preserving the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) Website

IISD is pleased to announce that a full copy of the ICTSD website is now available at ictsd.iisd.org. During its operations from 1996 to 2018, ICTSD generated an enormous amount of knowledge on trade and sustainable development in the form of dialogues, research publications, and periodicals. Specifically, this includes multilingual reporting on trade and sustainable news emerging from multilateral and regional fora (particularly the WTO) through the “Bridges” series of periodicals, original research and policy analysis, and content emerging from ICTSD’s Trade and Sustainable Development Symposiums (TSDS), which took place on the sidelines of past WTO Ministerial Conferences.

IISD had been seeking to maintain the ICTSD website under its original domain name, but that did not prove possible in the long term. To maintain the historical record and for the wider public good, we have therefore set up a mirror site. All previous web references to ICTSD materials will work by adding a “.iisd” in the middle of the first part of the address. The ictsd.iisd.org website is frozen, meaning no additions or revisions are possible. The TSDS site has also been mirrored.

For any issues with links or copyright concerns, please contact us. Our understanding is that all ICTSD materials were developed under Creative Commons licences or similar arrangements. We encourage others to also create mirror sites so that this valuable historical record is maintained. Please contact us if you wish to discuss further.