The World Trade Organization (WTO) has urged government and business leaders to work together through multilateral institutions to address the multiple crises facing the global economy and trade.
During the 51st annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, held between May 22 and 26, the WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, stressed the important role his agency can play in helping to address pressing issues such as growing food insecurity, the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, supply chain disruptions and declining fishery resources.
“You can’t have resilience unless you have global solidarity. It’s surviving together, it’s supporting each other, it’s funding each other together, it’s recognizing that my resilience can’t happen unless your resilience happens as well. We have the institutions, we just haven’t reformed them to be able to address these issues, and my institution, the WTO, is one that I think needs to be fit for purpose,” he said.
In addition, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala recommended that countries address food security concerns by looking at what steps can be taken to facilitate the central role of trade in ensuring that food is available to those who need it, while addressing producers' concerns and ensuring sufficient domestic supply.
"It is very difficult to agree on things multilaterally, and that has been happening in the WTO. We should not take it lightly. That is why we need to find ways forward to agree on some things to show that the organization can work," he stressed.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala also stressed the urgent need to address global warming and its impacts during a forum discussion on climate change, saying it must not be sidelined as the world grapples with other immediate challenges.
“The consequences of inaction are before us every day, on every continent, in so many countries. It is true that we are in a world of simultaneous crises – climate change, food, the pandemic, international security – but I do not think we can prioritize one over the other because they are all linked, they are all crises of the global commons,” he said.
Finally, the director-general called for a global carbon pricing mechanism involving developing countries to allay fears of green protectionism, saying the WTO would be the appropriate forum for such discussions given its broad and diverse membership.
“The WTO is already working with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to explore such an initiative,” he said.
This was the way in which the appeal was summed up in Davos to raise hope in the face of so many crises at once. The 13th Ministerial Conference is expected to take place in the week of June XNUMX.WTO Press Release)
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