WT/CTE/GEN/27  
 
3 February 2022  
(22-0842) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Trade and Environme nt Original: English  
 
 
UPDATE ON THE AGREEMENT ON CLIMATE CHANGE, TRADE AND SUSTAINABILITY 
(ACCTS)  
COMMUNICATION FROM NEW ZEALAND ON BEHALF OF ACCTS NEGOTIATING PARTICIPANTS  
The following communication is being circulated at the request of New Zealand on behalf of ACCTS 
negotiating participants and reflects the presentation done during the Committee on Trade and 
Environment (CTE) regular meeting held on 2 February 2022.  
 
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1. Costa Rica, Fiji, Iceland, New  Zealand, Norway and Switzerland are continuing to negotiate 
the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS), encompassing four key pillars 
at the nexus of trade, environment and sustainable deve lopment policy.  
2. The ACCTS pillars are  the liberalisation of environmental goods, new and binding commitments 
for environmental services, disciplines to eliminate harmful fossil fuel subsidies, and best practice 
guidelines to inform the development and imp lementation of voluntary eco -labelling programmes 
and mechanisms.  
3. Following the meeting of ACCTS Trade Ministers in October, on which we provided an update 
to the CTE last year, a second Ministerial meeting was held among the ACCTS Climate Ministers on 
11 November  2021.  
4. The Climate Ministers hosted a side -event in the margins of UN COP26 to highlight the linkages 
between trade policy and climate action. During this session, Costa Rica’s Minister  Andrés  Valenciano 
noted that "[decarbonisation] is an opportunity to generate jobs, to access technology, and to 
continue in the way to implement our work – the decarbonisation strategy […] is our development 
strategy ". Fiji’s Attorney General, Aiyaz  Sayed -Khaiyum, also emphasised that  "…while global trade 
is a source of emissions, it is also a fundamental part of the solution as it has the potential to enhance 
both mitigation and adaptation measures to climate change ". And Iceland’s Minister 
Guðmundur  Ingi Guðbrandsson noted that "Trade rules will play a significant role in mitigating 
climate change and environmental degradation globally simply by favouring green and clean 
businesses all over the world ". The representative from Switzerland added that "international trade 
policy can make a very important contribution to climate and environmental challenges and the 
sustainable development of all countries. " New Zealand's Minister of Climate Change James  Shaw 
expressed his hope that the ACCTS will be "the first child of the next generat ion of trade 
agreements ". 
5. All ACCTS Climate Ministers also issued a statement reaffirming their strong support for the 
ACCTS negotiations. They encouraged negotiators to conclude as soon as possible, while maintaining 
ambition in the negotiations so as to maximise the potential climate impact in support of the 
Paris Agreement’s aims.  
6. The ACCTS participants welcomed the inclusion of fossil fuel subsidy reform in the COP26 
Glasgow Climate Pact document, as it further reinforces the linkages between trade and  climate 
action.  WT/CTE/GEN/27  
 
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  7. The seventh round of negotiations concluded in December, with delegations holding multiple 
sessions across the four pillars and continuing to make steady process in the negotiations.  
Round  8 will take place in March 2022.  
8. ACCTS participa nts continue to carefully evaluate specific needs of developing Members to 
ensure that the ACCTS is fit -for-purpose. The group will continue to elaborate on specific and 
targeted flexibilities which may need to be incorporated into the ACCTS provisions.  
9. Concurrent with our negotiations, we welcome interest from WTO Members on the Agreement 
and will continue to keep Members informed on developments. The resulting Treaty -level and 
WTO-consistent instrument will be open to other Members to join, provided they  are able to meet 
its obligations.  
10. Our goal is that the ACCTS will help inform broader trade and environmental discussions, 
including those held under the WTO Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions 
(TESSD), by demonstrating how trad e actions can drive environmental outcomes.  
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