International Trade Committee Launches Inquiry on COP26 and International Trade

The Government has identified opportunities to use international trade to further environmental goals through the promotion of 'green trade' at the World Trade Organisation. At the same time, there is discussion around the environmental impacts of international trade and how these might be mitigated.

Additionally, the future impacts of climate change may affect international trade by disrupting infrastructure and transport routes, and by bringing about new patterns of trade and production.

The inquiry will consider how international trade and investment are being considered as part of the COP26 agenda, and how the Government's trade and investment priorities align with its objectives for COP26.

Send your views

• Submit written evidence to the inquiry

The Committee welcomes written evidence on the terms of reference below by 7 September 2021.

Terms of reference

The Committee welcomes written evidence on the following questions:

• How can international trade and investment contribute to realising the goals of COP26?
• Are international trade and investment likely to feature in the high-level negotiations at COP26?
• What are the possible impacts of climate change on international trade and investment?
• To what extent does the Government's trade policy align with the objectives of COP26? This includes, but is not limited to, its actions at the WTO, its G7 presidency, and its bilateral and plurilateral trade agenda.
• What discussions, if any, are planned to develop a multilateral approach to carbon pricing systems (including border adjustment mechanisms), green subsidies and investment funds, the curbing of fossil fuel subsidies, a circular economy and sustainable supply chains?
• What impact could an agreement on finance at COP26 have on trends in international investment?
• What engagement has there been between the COP26 Unit and the Department for International Trade on the Government's agenda for its Presidency?

Form of written evidence

Submissions should be no longer than 3,000 words. The main body of any submission should use numbered paragraphs. Each submission should contain:

• a short summary, perhaps in bullet point form;
• a brief introduction about the person or organisation submitting evidence, for example explaining their area of expertise or experience;
• any factual information from which the Committee might be able to draw conclusions, or which could be put to other witnesses;
• any recommendations for action by the Government or others which the submitter would like the Committee to consider for inclusion in its report to the House.

Submissions should be in malleable format such as MS Word (not PDFs) with no use of colour or logos. Guidance on submitting written evidence and data protection information is available here: Guidance on submitting written evidence.

Deadline for submissions

The Committee is asking for initial written evidence to be submitted by 7 September 2021.

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