The Green Trade Network, coordinated by IEEP, is organising the first Green Trade Day in April. The event will take stock of Europe’s progress in aligning trade policy with the European Green Deal and explore how trade can become a true accelerator of a fair, inclusive, and sustainable transition.
When: Wednesday, 9 April 2025
Time: 09:00–12:30 CET
Where: Mundo Madou, Brussels
The first term of the Von der Leyen Commission initiated a paradigm shift for the role of trade policies in promoting a globally fair and sustainable economic model. This includes the adoption of measures such as the first ever Border Carbon Adjustment (EU CBAM), a new mechanism to promote deforestation-free value chains (EUDR), the strengthening of Trade and Sustainable Development chapters in EU Free Trade Agreements (FTA), and new types of strategic partnerships on critical raw materials.
These evolutions have also led to unprecedented waves of discontent from Global South actors and trade-related tensions at the last COPs. Under such a backdrop, the design of trade policies appears not only as a key to unlocking market opportunities of the net zero transition for EU businesses but also as an integral part of the EU’s strategy to reach higher global climate ambitions.
Since 2022, the Green Trade Network—coordinated by IEEP— has brought together a community of experts working to find solutions to harness trade policy as an essential tool in tackling the triple planetary crisis. Now, for the first time, we are opening the conversation to a broader audience, on how to go even further and complement existing instruments and initiatives, but also on the potential of trade partnerships for the emergence of a more ambitious agenda for the circularity transition, the fight against climate change, and the transition towards a fairer economic model. Our Green Trade Day 2025 event feature experts from academia, industry, think tanks, and EU institutions, all sharing their perspectives on how trade can become a driving force for a fair and just transition.
Confirmed Speakers:
- Laurence Tubiana, CEO, European Climate Foundation
- Jacob Werksman, Principal Advisor, DG CLIMA
- Jorg Wojahn, Head of Unit, Bilateral Relations in Trade and Sustainable Development – GSP, DG TRADE
- Ely Sandler, Research Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School
- Mathilde Dupré, Director, Veblen Institute
- David Kleimann, Research Fellow, ODI
- Markus Gehring, Professor of International Sustainable Development Law, University of Cambridge
Join us on 9 April in Brussels to discuss the future of sustainability objectives in EU bilateral partnerships and of the trade and climate agenda in a challenging geopolitical context. Stay tuned, the full agenda will be revealed in the coming weeks!
