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- Joint Statement Released by Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate
Joint Statement Released by Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate
January 20, 2023
On January 19 (Thu.), the Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate was held by the EU and three other countries,* and Mr. Nishimura Yasutoshi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, attended. At the meeting, a joint statement was issued by 27 participating countries and regions regarding items that should be tackled with the highest priority in order to contribute to measures against climate change from a trade perspective.
Note: The meeting was hosted by the EU, Ecuador, Kenya, and New Zealand
1. Overview of the meeting
On January 19 (Thu.), the Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate was held by the EU and three other countries,*1 and Mr. Nishimura Yasutoshi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, attended. At the meeting, a joint statement was issued by 27 participating countries and regions*2 regarding items that should be tackled with the highest priority in order to contribute to measures against climate change from a trade perspective.
Note 2: Participants (27 countries and regions):
Angola, Australia, Barbados, Cape Verde, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, the EU, the Gambia, Iceland, Japan, Kenya, the ROK, Maldives, Mozambique, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Rwanda, Singapore, Switzerland, Ukraine, the UK, the United States, Vanuatu, and Zambia
2. Outline of the joint statement
<Items on future cooperation>
- International cooperation and collective action to promote trade policies that pursue climate action across the WTO and relevant initiatives
- Identification of ways to ensure the multilateral trading system contributes to the global response to climate change
- Promotion of trade and investment in goods, services, and technologies that support climate change mitigation and adaptation
- Identification of trade-related strategies supportive of the most vulnerable developing and least developed countries
- Building of partnerships with climate and finance communities and relevant stakeholders to foster climate action
3. Outline of Minister Nishimura's remarks
- Trade policy should encourage policy coordination in order to enlarge markets for low-carbon goods while preventing carbon leakage. We should design and implement policies in a way that doesn’t undermine international cooperation, which is crucial to address climate change. Discussions should be deepened on rules to appropriately evaluate low-carbon products while avoiding excessive trade barriers.
- In order to help spread new goods and technologies that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it is important to remove barriers at various stages from development and production to distribution and trade, addressing not only tariffs, but also regulatory measures such as considering relations with international standards.
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Division in Charge
Multilateral Trade System Department, Trade Policy Bureau