On 20 April 2023, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Bank Group and the World Economic Forum (WEF) launched “Action on Climate and Trade” or ACT, a new initiative that aims to help participating developing economies, including least-developed countries, use trade to meet their climate change mitigation and adaptation goals. The new initiative, which starts with a pilot phase, will focus on working with participating developing economies to develop climate-related analysis specific to their trade circumstances.
ACT will provide participating developing economies with tailored insights to plan for climate change’s impacts on trade, leverage opportunities for climate action and trade growth, and define areas of collaboration with trade partners.
Analysis will be adapted to each economy's specific situation and will explore how trade policy can support the achievement of National Adaptation Plans and Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement on climate change. Egypt has taken interest in ACT and is likely to join the pilot phase.
Domestic stakeholders will be involved in ACT's policy analysis through public-private dialogues, providing participating economies with an opportunity to explore specific ways in which trade can be leveraged to enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.
In addition, ACT will help policymakers and stakeholders in developing economies engage in international processes where appropriate, such as the WTO's Committee on Trade and Environment, and the WTO's Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions.
The WTO's World Trade Report 2022 (www.wto.org/english/res_e/publications_e/wtr22_e.htm) indicates that global cooperation on international trade and related investment needs to be mobilised to enhance the mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, support a just low-carbon transition, and minimise trade frictions.