The SDGs put significant emphasis on the role that trade can play in promoting sustainable development.

There are direct references to WTO activities in many of the SDGs, including:

SDG 2 on hunger, food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture

SDG 3 on healthy lives and wellbeing

SDG 8 on economic growth, employment and work

SDG 10 on inequalities within and among countries

SDG 14 on oceans, seas, and marine resources.

SDG 17 on strengthening the global partnership for sustainable development contains a separate section
on trade, including a commitment to promoting a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and
equitable multilateral trading system under the WTO.

Harnessing trade to promote growth and reduce poverty

The integration of developing countries into regional and global markets is a central theme in the SDGs.
To help achieve this objective, the SDGs seek to ensure that trade plays its part in boosting growth,
tackling poverty and promoting sustainable development. The SDGs identify the following priority areas
relating to trade:

increase Aid for Trade support for developing countries, in particular the least-developed
countries (LDCs) (SDG 8)

implement the principle of special and differential treatment for developing countries, in
particular LDCs (SDG 10)

significantly increase the exports of developing countries, in particular with a view to

doubling the LDC share of global exports by 2020 (SDG 17)

realize timely implementation of duty-free and quota-free market access on a lasting basis
for all LDCs, including by ensuring that preferential rules of origin applicable to imports from
LDCs are transparent and simple, and contribute to facilitating market access (SDG 17).

Harnessing trade as part of a long-term strategy against hunger

The SDGs recognize that a more open, transparent and well-functioning global agricultural market is an
essential element of a wider strategy to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and
promote sustainable agriculture. Policies that distort production and trade in agricultural commodities
can undermine efforts to realize these goals, because they often stimulate inefficient and costly
production where it would not otherwise occur and prevent the most competitive producers, many of
which are located in developing countries, from participating in global trade.SDG 2calls for an end to
trade restrictions and distortions in world agricultural markets.back to top
A win-win for trade and the environment

The conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources is an essential element
in promoting sustainable development. Amid growing concerns about the grave problems of
overcapacity and overfishing in today's modern fisheries fleets, and the role that subsidies could play in
exacerbating these problems, SDG 14calls for a prohibition by 2020 on certain forms of fisheries
subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, and to eliminate subsidies that contribute to
illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

Using WTO flexibilities to protect public health back to top

SDG 3 on ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing includes the target of providing access to
affordable essential medicines and vaccines. It recalls the 2001 Doha Declaration on the TRIPS
Agreement and Public Health, which affirms the right to use to the full the provisions in the TRIPS
Agreement regarding flexibilities to protect public health, and, in particular, provide access to medicines
for all.

Sustainable tourism and the SDGsback to top

Sustainable tourism, the trade-related aspects of which are covered under the WTO's General
Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), plays a prominent role in the SDGs. For example, SDG 8 calls for
policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products,
while SDG 12 on sustainable consumption and production patterns highlights the importance of
developing and implementing tools to monitor sustainable development impacts for sustainable
tourism. Furthermore, SDG 14 seeks to increase the economic benefits to small island developing states
and least developed countries from the sustainable use of marine resources, including through
sustainable management of fisheries, aquaculture and tourism.back to top

Using trade to help disseminate energy technologies

SDG 7 does not directly mention trade but it underlines the importance of international cooperation to
facilitate access to clean energy research and technology, including renewable energy, energy efficiency
and advanced and cleaner fossil-fuel technology. Among the myriad expressions of cooperation in the
field of technology is the elimination of barriers that hinder the movement of green goods and services
between countries. More open trade in such goods and services should make them cheaper and more
accessible to producers and consumers around the world, lowering the cost of attaining key
environmental protection goals in developing and developed countries alike.

Strengthening global trade cooperation for sustainable development

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development defines international trade as an engine for inclusive
economic growth and poverty reduction, [that] contributes to the promotion of sustainable
development. The adoption of Agenda 2030 commits UN member states to continue to promote
meaningful trade liberalization over the next 15 years to help maximize the contribution of trade to
the success of the sustainable development agenda.
Regional Trade agreements (RTAs), which comprises of bilateral and plurilateral trade agreements, free
trade agreements, economic partnerships and other arrangements aiming at trade liberalisation
between countries, have grown substantially over the last decade. Countries increasingly use these trade
agreements to co-operate on environmental matters by including environmental provisions in RTAs.

Since 2005, the Joint Working Party on Trade and Environment (JWPTE) carries out work on RTAs and the
environment. In 2007, a flagship publication on Environment and Regional Trade Agreements was
released describing the state of the art for environmental provisions, side agreements and co-
operation agreements linked to RTAs as of 2007. A number of annual updates were developed from 2007
to 2013 to track the development of environmental provisions in RTAs. In a parallel effort, a series of
analytical reports are released which includes a checklist for negotiators, framework for evaluation
and trends and policy drivers on environmental provisions in RTAs. This work is also accompanied by
periodic workshops by several workshops for government officials and other experts on RTAs and the
environment.