TRADE AND INVESTMENT RULES

The rules governing global trade and investment require significant reform to be aligned with global public health, climate and development goals. This includes supporting increased flows of low-carbon goods, services and investment; lowering overall carbon emissions embedded in trade; and more fundamentally, increasing the voice and representation of low- and middle-income countries in developing new rules. 

Trade negotiations, from multilateral to bilateral, should center public health, climate and development needs, yet the World Trade Organization (WTO) is fraught with fundamental disagreements among members, with some wielding more flexibility than others. Any sustainable, inclusive trade system requires rules that allow space for national policies while protecting vulnerable countries from resultant negative spillover effects.

The Global Economic Governance Initiative’s Trade and Investment workstream conducts research on the impact of the current and evolving global trade and investment rules on national policymaking. This work specifically examines the extent to which these rules facilitate access to medicines, climate mitigation and adaptation, financial and fiscal stability and development trajectories for developing countries.

Highlights