WTO Members reached an agreement on fisheries subsidies at the WTO’s Twelfth Ministerial Conference, but also committed to continue negotiating and agree on more “comprehensive” disciplines. Further talks will aim to establish additional rules on subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing (OCOF). As Members prepare to engage in a first cluster of meetings in late March, the objective of this virtual workshop is to provide delegations with key knowledge tools to support their informed engagement in these negotiations. 

The first session will enable participants to understand key pieces of analytical work on fisheries subsidies and the contribution of those subsidies to overcapacity and overfishing under different circumstances. The second session starts with an overview of the main approaches to rules on subsidies contributing to overcapacity and overfishing that have been considered by Members, including links to the analysis presented earlier. It will then help participants to review the key steps of the negotiating process in this area leading up to MC12, providing an in-depth look at the choices made up to that point.

Agenda 

2:00 – 2:05: Opening remarks 

2:05 – 3:30: Session 1: Understanding existing research on the impact of fisheries subsidies 

• Rashid Sumaila – University Killam Professor, University of British Columbia 

• Jayasurya Kalakkal – Environment and Trade Consultant, UNEP 

• Claire Delpeuch – Head of Unit, Fisheries and Aquaculture, OECD 

Open discussion 

3:30 – 4:55: Session 2: Approaches and key decisions in the WTO negotiations on overcapacity and overfishing 

• Alice Tipping – Lead, Sustainable Trade, IISD 

• Tristan Irschlinger – Policy Advisor, Fisheries Subsidies, IISD 

Open discussion 

4:55 – 5:00: Concluding remarks

Against the tense background of geopolitical crises, weather extremes, and economic volatility, parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will come together in November for another round of climate negotiations.

At the midway point of the conference, join the Earth Negotiations Bulletin team live from Sharm el-Sheikh as they host a concise webinar on:

• What progress they saw in the negotiating rooms during week one.
• Predictions for week two outcomes based on the trajectory of talks.

With half the hour devoted to answering your questions and observations, the COP 27 Halfway Point Webinar is a chance for experts to pose niche questions and newcomers to gain insights from the team behind the world's most authoritative record of climate negotiations. Register now and then subscribe to the Earth Negotiations Bulletin newsletter to get daily updates from COP 27.

As World Trade Organization (WTO) members prepare for the entry into force of the new Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies reached in June 2022 at their Twelfth Ministerial Conference, this hybrid webinar aims to introduce IISD’s new self-assessment tool that members can use as they prepare to implement the agreement. Public officials can use the tool to conduct a self-assessment exercise on what changes they should make at home and identify where assistance may be needed.  

The launch event discussed the various elements of the toolkit that will help WTO members to: 

1. Collect key information and data needed for implementing the agreement.

2. Determine if their government’s domestic policies and practices are currently aligned with the treaty and what may need changing.

3. Assess whether mechanisms are in place at home to enable ongoing alignment with the new WTO disciplines and, when such mechanisms are lacking, articulate where domestic authorities may need technical assistance and/or capacity-building support. 

The launch event also featured reflections from representatives from the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), donor countries, and developing country members. They provided their insights on both the tool itself and other kinds of support that would help to ensure the smooth implementation of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies. The event concluded with an opportunity for questions and answers.   

Please note that the event is for WTO members only. 

Moderator

• Alice Tipping, Lead, Sustainable Trade and Fisheries Subsidies, IISD

Speakers

• Tristan Irschlinger, Policy Advisor, Fisheries Subsidies, IISD 
• Ieva Baršauskaitė, Senior Policy Advisor, Sustainable Trade, IISD  
• Julien Million, Senior Fisheries Specialist, World Bank Group 
• Dominique Burgeon, Director, FAO Liaison Office in Geneva 
• Parmanand Daby, Acting Scientific Officer, Ministry of Blue Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries and Shipping of the Republic of Mauritius 
• Frank Rittner, Counsellor, Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany to the International Organizations in Geneva  

With parliamentary action to tackle hunger and malnutrition more necessary than ever, preparations are being made to bring together parliamentarians from around the world for the Second Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition, scheduled for 2023. The forthcoming Summit seeks to contribute toward a redoubling of efforts to end all forms of hunger and malnutrition by 2030. The Summit will take stock of progress made since the First Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition held in Madrid in 2018. It will showcase examples of parliamentary action to tackle hunger and malnutrition and identify priority issues that have emerged from recent parliamentary dialogues.

IISD and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have organized a series of events to support the preparation of the forthcoming Summit and thereby ensure that it facilitates valuable exchanges of experiences between parliamentarians and stimulates further parliamentary action to tackle hunger and malnutrition. These preparatory events aim to raise parliamentarians’ awareness about important issues relevant to efforts to tackle hunger and malnutrition, stimulate discussion and knowledge exchange among parliamentarians, share FAO tools to support parliamentary action, document relevant experiences, and inform the agenda for the forthcoming Summit.

Thematic session:  Parliamentary action to promote improved nutrition and affordable healthy diets for all, September 28, 2022, 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. (Rome time).

This session highlighted the importance of tackling all forms of malnutrition and showcased relevant cases and experiences of parliamentary action to improve nutrition and promote affordable healthy diets for all. It also presented relevant FAO tools for parliamentary action on nutrition.

Thematic session: Parliamentary action on tackling gender inequality to achieve food security and improved nutrition for all, October 27, 2022, 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. (Rome time).

This session aimed to improve knowledge and facilitate political dialogue around the role of parliamentarians in promoting food security and nutrition through the adoption of gender-responsive approaches.  

Pre-Summit: Meeting to prepare for the Second Global Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition, November 30, 2022, 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. (Rome time).

This event reflected on the issues, insights, and experiences shared during recent parliamentary dialogues, the two thematic sessions, and an online survey. Representatives of national and regional parliaments were invited to participate in jointly developing a draft agenda for the Second Global Parliamentary Summit against Hunger and Malnutrition based on these issues, insights, and experiences. The event was also broadcasted online for the public to watch via Zoom.

Energy scenarios have a key role to play in guiding the energy system transformation needed to meet the 1.5°C temperature limit under the Paris Agreement. These scenarios can influence investor expectations and policy decisions.

A new IISD report aims to provide policy-makers, investors, and companies with information on how to align energy decision-making with Paris Agreement goals. It conducts an unprecedented analysis of the most influential modelled pathways consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C. The research shows a high level of agreement among these scenarios with implications for the phase-out of oil and gas and the ramp-up of clean energy deployment and investment.

The webinar provides a first look at the key findings from this authoritative report highlighting the implications of 1.5°C scenarios for fossil fuel phase-out and renewables scale-up, barriers to those transitions and solutions to such challenges, and tools for governments and financial institutions to navigate the current energy crisis while maintaining climate ambition.

Panellists from intergovernmental organizations and the scientific community reflect on the key findings of the report and discuss its implications for energy decision-making.

Agenda

Moderator’s Welcome

Ploy Achakulwisut, Scientist, Stockholm Environment Institute

Keynote Remarks

Presentation of Findings

Olivier Bois von Kursk, Policy Analyst, International Institute for Sustainable Development

Panel Discussion

• Diala Hawila, Programme Officer, International Renewable Energy Agency
• Jana Koperniech, Global Technical Specialist, Energy, UN Development Programme
• Alaa Al Khourdajie, Senior Scientist, Technical Support Unit, Working Group 3, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• Frederic Hans, NewClimate Institute

Q&A

Closing Remarks

CFS 50 Side Event

Our virtual side event to the Committee on World Food Security 50 Plenary on "Promoting Responsible and Climate-Smart Investment in Agriculture in Southeast Asia Through Multistakeholder Approaches," was organized by IISD and our partners—ASEAN Climate Resilience Network (ASEAN CRN), Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture and Grow Asia—to explore innovative approaches to engaging stakeholders and provide case studies for improving responsible and climate-smart investment in agriculture and food systems.

ASEAN member states have adopted the Regional Guidelines on Promoting Responsible Investment in Food, Agriculture, and Forestry as well as the Regional Guidelines for Promoting Climate-Smart Agriculture in response to the urgent need for more responsible and climate-smart investment in the region. The side event provided a platform for the government, private sector, and civil society stakeholders we work with in Southeast Asia to share their perspectives on the approaches they are taking to integrate these guidelines into their laws, policies, investments, and activities.

Their contributions to the side event helped participants gain a better understanding of the following:

• The role of governments, the private sector, and civil society in turning ASEAN's regional guidelines for responsible and climate-smart investment in agriculture into a reality on the ground.
• How responsible and climate-smart investments can benefit farmers, businesses, and citizens of ASEAN, including the most vulnerable. 
• How the multistakeholder approaches to implementing regional guidelines in ASEAN might be replicated in other parts of the world.

Speakers

Introductory remarks

• Dada Bacudo, Senior Consultant and Expert on Climate-Smart Agriculture, Land Use Policy, and Climate Finance, ASEAN CRN
• Dian Sukmajaya, Senior Officer, ASEAN Secretariat

Panellists

• Erizal Jamal, Indonesian Center for Agricultural Socio-Economic Policy Studies
• Hatan Kamolsirisakul, Thai Wah Public Co. Ltd
• Sharon Jean Gonzales-Gulmatico, Morination Agricultural Products Inc.
• Mohammad Hariz Bin Abdul Rahman, Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute
• Mags Catindig, Assistant Secretary General, AsiaDHRRA 

Moderator: Chrissa Borja, Grow Asia

Momentum for a just transition in Canada is building, but to date there remain few public details on the federal government’s concrete plans. As the government moves to develop a sustainable jobs strategy, table just transition legislation, and expand the regional round tables on energy and resources, labour, Indigenous nations, and civil society must be fully involved in the process. Canada’s efforts to ensure workers and communities are supported through the energy transition require partnership with those affected to successfully usher in a swift and fair transition.

In this webinar, we bring together experts from labour, Indigenous, and environmental organizations working on just transition in Canada. Each panellist will share their insights and policy expectations for federal just transition legislation and strategy, with opportunities for collaborative discussion and Q&A.

Speakers

Carolyn Gibson, Natural Resource and Economic Development Policy Advisor, Metis National Council

Ken Bondy, National Representative, Unifor

Vanessa Corkal, Senior Policy Advisor, Canada Energy Transitions, International Institute for Sustainable Development

Alex Callahan, Director of Health, Safety and Environment, Canadian Labour Congress

The International Institute for Sustainable Development organized a seminar on the “Role of Trade in the Fight Against Plastic Pollution: Refresher for New Delegates”. The seminar was held on Monday 3 October 2022 at the WTO.

The amount of plastic waste produced globally is on track to almost triple by 2060. In February 2022 the United Nations Environment Assembly adopted a historic resolution launching negotiations towards a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution by the end of 2024. At the WTO, a group of members has been working since November 2020 in the Informal Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade (IDP), which aims to establish how cooperation at the WTO could contribute to efforts to reduce plastics pollution and promote the transition to more environmentally sustainable trade in plastics.

The session was designed for delegates with responsibility for trade and environment work at the WTO and to those new to the file. The session provided a short and focused introduction to trade’s role fighting plastic pollution and the work done by the WTO members in the context of the IDP so far, as well as the links to the broader context of the UN negotiations for a global plastics treaty and expectations surrounding that process.
 

Our Building Bridges event on October 4, 2022 titled “Rethinking Financial Valuations – The Integration of Sustainability Considerations”, featured leaders that are driving the transition to sustainability.

Capital allocation decisions often do not adequately factor in sustainability considerations, leading to sub-optimal decisions from both sustainability and profitability perspectives. Negative environmental/social impacts that are “externalities” today, can easily become costs with an actual cash flow impact. The session focused on the importance of sustainability integration in financial valuations and touched upon potential approaches to tackling this challenge.

The event had an hybrid format, allowing virtual and in-site participation at the International Conference Centre Geneva (Room E).

Panellists:

• Morten Siersted, Senior Associate, International Institute for Sustainable Development
• Corinne Namblard, CEO, VivaVacs UK
• David Uzsoki, Sustainable Finance Lead, International Institute for Sustainable Development
• Jeroen Bos, Global Head of Sustainable Investing, Credit Suisse Asset Management

Moderator:

• Ben Payton, Freelance writer and Special Projects Editor

This event took place during the 3rd edition of Building Bridges Week, which featured more than 65 discussions, workshops, roundtables, and presentations from October 3 to 6 in Geneva.

Building Bridges is a joint initiative launched in 2019 by Swiss public authorities, the finance community, the United Nations, and other international partners to accelerate the transition to a global economic model aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. At the core of the initiative is the recognition that the scale and complexity of the transition require “building bridges” between multiple stakeholders in the finance, government, and international development communities.

As we advance in the decisive decade to avoid the worst climate impacts, the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) continues to draw strong criticism. Initially designed in the 1990s to enable multilateral cooperation in the energy sector, it is the investment treaty that has generated the highest number of investor–state arbitrations, leading to record-breaking damages awards that have cost governments millions of euros.

Amid widespread recognition that the ECT is outdated and constitutes an obstacle to the transition to a low-carbon economy, the treaty's contracting parties started negotiations to "modernize" the treaty. Since this "modernization" process started in July 2020, the ECT Modernization Group has held 15 rounds of negotiations and reached an agreement in principle for the modernization of the treaty on June 24, 2022. If adopted, the text of the agreement will have a major impact on the energy policies of more than 50 countries for decades to come and shape the climate policy of an entire region.

With less than 3 months left before ECT contracting parties put the agreement to a final vote in November 2022, the time had come to assess the implications of the new agreement for climate policy.

• Read IISD's latest ECT analysis: Modest Modernization or Massive Setback?

This webinar aimed to do so by bringing leading experts and policy-makers together to discuss topics including the compatibility of the "modernized" ECT with the Paris Agreement, its extended scope, how the reformed investment protection standards compare to recent treaty practice, and whether a coordinated withdrawal from the treaty remains the preferred policy option.

Keynote

• Lisa Sachs, Director, Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

Moderators

• Helionor De Anzizu, Attorney, International Investment and Trade Law, Center for International Environmental Law 
• Amandine Van den Berghe, Trade and Environment Lawyer, ClientEarth

Speakers

• Christina Eckes, Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Amsterdam
• Rainer Hinrichs-Rahlwes, Vice-President, European Renewable Energies Federation
• Cornelia Maarfield, Senior Trade and Investment Policy Coordinator, Climate Action Network Europe
• Suzy H. Nikièma, Lead, Sustainable Investment, IISD
• Brieuc Posnic, International Relations Officer, Directorate General Energy, European Commission
• Nikki Reisch, Director, CIEL’s Climate and Energy Program
• Lukas Schaugg, International Law Analyst, IISD
• Kyla Tienhaara, Assistant Professor, School of Environmental Studies, Queen’s University

This event was co-hosted by IISD, the Center for International Environmental Law, and ClientEarth.