ABU DHABI – Deputy United Trade Representative and Chief of Mission for the Permanent Mission of the United States to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ambassador María Pagán today delivered remarks at the 2nd Ministerial Meeting of the Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate. In her remarks, Ambassador Pagán highlighted the value of sending a unified message on the urgent need to tackle the climate crisis and the important role that trade and the WTO can play in that effort through practical, concrete outcomes. At the end of the meeting, the Coalition released a Communiqué and a “Menu of Voluntary Actions” that WTO Members may consider to address the climate crisis.
Ambassador Pagán’s remarks as delivered are below:
Good morning.
The United States would like to thank the co-chairs for their hard work to convene this meeting and coordinate our joint efforts on climate in advance of MC13. We also welcome the new members of the Coalition.
The United States values the important role that this Coalition can play in the fight to address climate change, and we are pleased to be a part of this effort.
The real value of this Coalition is to send a unified message on the urgent need to tackle the climate crisis and the important role that trade can play in that effort.
I know that most Members recognize the urgent need to act, to ensure a safe future for our communities, good paying jobs for workers, and a healthy planet for future generations.
Most of us are working to better understand the challenges and opportunities of the green transition, and I think we all agree that the WTO and trade policies need to be part of the climate solution.
As Members develop and implement their trade-related climate measures, the WTO can serve as a convener to promote deeper conversations on how our policies can work toward a common purpose.
The WTO already has multiple climate workstreams and we are having fruitful discussions, including through the Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions.
We have discussed facilitating trade in cleaner technologies and lower-emission goods, enhancing circularity in our economies, and fully implementing the Trade Facilitation Agreement to reduce the environmental effects of port delays.
But we also need to consider when some of those informal conversations are more advanced and can be brought back to the broader WTO Membership and developed into practical, concrete outcomes.
The United States has been considering impactful ways we can do this at the WTO. U.S. Trade Representative Tai and I look forward to sharing our thinking and listening to others’ thoughts this week, so together we can move the work on climate and trade forward.
Thank you.
###
