Director-General of World Trade Organization – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: Endorsed Trade Ministers’ strides to Revamp certainties in addressing Climate Change

By Abdul Rahman Bangura-

NEW AFRICA DAILY NEWS (NADN) Freetown, Sierra Leone– In welcoming the Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Morocco as the recent retinues at the Second Ministerial meeting the Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate held on the assertions of the WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference taking place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Okonjo-Iweala noted: “Nearly two years ago, at the previous summit, you all agreed that trade should play an important role in responding to global environmental challenges including climate change and natural disasters, biodiversity loss, and pollution.

“The pathways you have sketched have important synergies with work ongoing at the WTO.” She said the efforts of the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment to improve deliberations and those of the three environmental initiatives of WTO members, namely the dialogue on plastics pollution and environmentally sustainable plastics trade, the trade and environmental sustainability structured discussions and fossil fuel subsidies reform.

She expanded: “Many of you are already actively engaging in all these processes and acting through the WTO, we can amplify the impact of this coalition’s work.

“Now is the time to work together and build bridges with those WTO members not yet in the coalition. You can strengthen the WTO as a hub for transparency, knowledge, discussion and negotiation, trade policy reviews, and actions on trade in support of the climate.”

Minister of Trade and Industry Sosten Gwengwes remarked, Malawi retains an agriculture-based economy, and that the nation’s economic model has a huge bearing on production and in turn export trading.

“The Ministry of Trade as a facilitating ministry continues to work closely with the Ministry of Agriculture as well as the Ministry of Natural Resources in ensuring that issues to do with climate change are tackled to minimize challenges that entrepreneurs might encounter in their trade endeavors,” he noted.

Gwengwe same mentained, his ministry was same working with development partners like the United Nations Development Programme and GIZ to encourage biodiversity, amongst women entrepreneurs, particularly those in agriculture.

During the meeting, the coalition’s co-leads Ecuador, the European Union, Kenya and New Zealand reported on the group’s activities over its first year.

For New Africa Daily News Abdul Rahman Bangura Reports, Africa Correspondent