What are the intersections of trade, development, and climate justice for the Global South, and how can multilateralism be harnessed to work towards them? On 2 July, the CS FfD Mechanism’s Trade workstream side event at FfD4, which was spearheaded by Regions Refocus, delved into this question. The roundtable brought together state representatives from the Global South and members of civil society to take stock of our FfD4 mobilizations and look ahead to chart a course forward based on what has not been achieved in Seville.
The purpose of trade multilateralism has been, since its inception, to act as an engine of development. However, chronic trade deficits of Global South countries, deteriorating terms of trade for primary commodity producers, and fundamentally undemocratic trade multilateralism have degraded the environment and the lives of many people in developing countries, especially women. The recent intensification of tariff and trade wars are undermining efforts towards economic structural transformation in developing countries, further aggravating the situation of marginalized communities and threatening to upend long-held principles of the multilateral trade regime. In this sense, and despite growth in global Gross Domestic Product, trade multilateralism has failed to meet its purpose.
Similarly, the purpose of climate multilateralism has been to facilitate collective action on the growing emergency of climate change and prevent the ecological, social, and economic problems caused by it. Yet, the extinction of a million species is looming, carbon emissions continue to rise each year despite accelerating ecological breakdown, loss and damage financing needs of developing countries are barely 10% met, and social inequalities– especially those related to gender– are drastically rising as they are compounded by unequal vulnerabilities and capacities to respond to the problems of climate change. False solutions to climate change, including unilateral trade measures passed by developed countries, are proliferating, and disregarding core principles of climate multilateralism such as common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR). Climate multilateralism has therefore also not met its purpose.
Ranja Sengupta, Third World Network, spoke about the urgent need to align trade and climate justice agendas, including the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR). Trade injustice has direct effects on the worsening ecological crisis, including through ISDS. Erica Levenson, Regions Refocus, described the ideological shift needed to align trade and climate justice agendas. The indiscriminate pursuit of free trade regardless of its distributional and environmental impacts has had devastating consequences. Ivo Rubio, Permanent Mission of Angola to the United Nations in New York, provided insights into the dynamics of negotiating multilateral policies which promote trade, development, and climate justice, and emphasized the role of regional cooperation in Africa going forward.
Tetteh Hormeku-Ajei, Third World Network-Africa, highlighted the structural issues which need to be addressed in order to facilitate regional cooperation in Africa. He pointed to the current scramble for critical minerals as a crucial opportunity for the continent to come together and collectively improve their terms of trade. Dr. Patrick Olomo, African Union, concluded the panel by envisioning practical steps to take forward the analysis and strategies discussed. Jane Nalunga, SEATINI, chaired the panel.