Multilateral bodies renew push towards greener future

Five global multilateral organizations–World Trade Organization (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), UNCTAD, and the World Bank–released a key report this week, offering ways to coordinate climate action, carbon pricing, and address the global impacts of climate policies to meet climate goals.

The report, titled ‘Working Together for Better Climate Action: Carbon Pricing, Policy Spillovers, and Global Climate Goals,’ comes as countries ramp up efforts to combat climate change. Currently, 75 carbon taxes and emission trading schemes are in place globally, covering about 24% of emissions.

The report emphasizes the need to intensify climate action to meet emission reduction targets while advancing development goals. It also highlights the need for coordinated global climate action, focusing on common carbon pricing metrics, the role of carbon pricing in raising revenue, managing cross-border impacts, and scaling up efforts by addressing transparency and implementation gaps.

The report also noted that further work is needed to improve data on carbon pricing, border adjustment policies, and cooperation strategies to ensure a fair and effective transition.

“Trade-related climate policies have grown, with over 5,500 measures notified to the WTO from 2009-22. These can lead to trade tensions. Future work should focus on coordinating more ambitious carbon pricing policies to close the climate action gap and address cross-border impacts,” WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in the statement.

“This report highlights why carbon pricing is essential to scaling up climate action. Global emissions must be cut urgently to meet Paris goals, and international coordination can unlock progress,” IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said in the joint statement.

OECD secretary-general Mathias Cormann said: “While countries have different emission-reduction approaches, achieving net zero requires global alignment. Better-coordinated mitigation policies can prevent negative impacts like carbon leakage and trade distortions.”

“UNCTAD supports developing countries in advancing climate mitigation with a just and green transition. We are working to ensure Border Carbon Adjustments and related measures are evidence-based and minimize harm to developing economies,” UNCTAD secretary-general Rebeca Grynspan said.

“Carbon pricing can incentivize private sector involvement and create public revenues to support development. However, with various national climate policies emerging, greater coordination is needed to ensure benefits for lower-income economies, helping them create jobs and join global value chains,” World Bank senior managing director Axel van Trotsenburg said in the statement.