Sustainability and trade lead this week’s news agenda, as this year’s annual UN climate conference gets underway in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver the annual Mansion House Speech in the face of a possible 20% flat tariff rate from the US, following Donald Trump’s election victory last week.
The Department of Business and Trade (DBT) will also be holding its International Trade Week programme, an opportunity for businesses to learn more about exporting.
As part of this now-annual programme, the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade will be holding a webinar on how traders can benefit when the UK’s entry into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) comes into force next month.
COP29
The 29th annual UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, this year.
This year’s presidency highlights the shared “moral duty” all nations have to prevent the world from exceeding the target, set under the Paris Agreement at COP15, of global warming reaching no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
With this in mind, it set out the two pillars of its plan for COP as “enhance ambition – ensur[ing] all parties commit to ambitious national plan and transparency” and “enable action – reflecting the critical role of finance… to turn ambition into action and reduce emissions.”
To achieve both aims, the Guardian reports that Azerbaijan’s environment minister, Mukhtar Babayev, has advocated for greater private finance support for low-carbon energy projects, especially in the developing world.
“Without the private sector, there is no climate solution. The world needs more funds and it needs them faster. History shows we can mobilise the resources required; it’s now a matter of political will.”
His words follow the publication of an International Chamber of Commerce report that found the cost of climate change-induced extreme weather has cost the global economy US$2trn over the past decade.
Controversy
As with previous summits, the financing of fossil fuel usage has generated controversy, with questions raised over conflicts of interest. This weekend, it was reported that Elnur Soltanov, chief executive of COP29, was filmed agreeing fossil fuel promoting deals while at the summit.
When Global Witness, a campaign group, posed as an oil and gas firm wishing to sponsor the event, Soltanov agreed to their requests for facilitating deals at the summit, describing a future in which fossil fuels are used, “perhaps forever”.
This echoes a major scandal from COP28, when that summit’s president, Sultan al-Jaber from the UAE, was also forced to deny using the event to facilitate fossil fuel deals.
Trump concerns
The conference also falls under the shadow of president-elect Donald Trump’s victory in last week’s US election.
During his first presidency, Trump pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement, which committed leaders to ensuring global warming is limited to the 1.5 degrees target. He has pledged to take the US out of the COP15 agreement again, once he enters office.
Climate campaigners and environmental experts have warned that a number of his policies – including a row-back of environmental rules and defunding Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which funded clean energy projects – will further undermine efforts to meet the target.
The FT reports that investors, alarmed by a second Trump presidency, have already pulled out of US renewable energy projects, slowing the pace of the country’s decarbonisation efforts.
UK response
UK energy secretary Ed Miliband, who will be in Baku this week alongside prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, has said that the “only way to protect future generations is by working with other countries to deliver climate action”.
“This government is committed to accelerating climate action precisely because it is by doing this that we protect our country, with energy security, lower bills and good jobs.”
The UK, along with other attending nations, will release its annual action plan for cutting emissions – Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) – which is expected to align closely with COP28’s agreement to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems.
Sustainability and trade
In the latter half of the week, COP29 will hold several sessions engaging with sustainability and trade.
There will also be a high-level meeting launching the Baku Initiative for Climate Finance Investment and Trade Dialogue, convened by the WTO, UNCTAD, ITC and the COP29 presidency. It aims to support SMEs through the green transition.
Mansion House speech
Its widely anticipated that Rachel Reeves which use the annual chancellor’s Mansion House speech to argue for the value of free trade. This comes amid Whitehall fears about the impact of Trump’s pledged 20% flat tariff on the UK economy.
Those fears were stoked this weekend when Trump appointed Robert Lighthizer to the role of US Trade Representative. Lighthizer explicitly blamed free trade for the decline of US manufacturing and the country’s trade deficit in the week prior to the election.
Over the weekend it was reported that Whitehall officials are ratcheting up work to forecast the damage of Trump’s pledged tariffs, with chief secretary to the treasury, Darren Jones, saying that they’re currently “considering lots of different scenarios”.
One they’ll be hoping to avoid is the University of Sussex's Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy’s (CITP) recent analysis that found that a 20% flat tariff on US imports could cost the UK £22bn in exports, falling over 2.6%
International Trade Week
This week is the Department for Business and Trade’s fourth International Trade Week, which features a mix of events, workshops and webinars, offering UK businesses the chance to learn about international trade and to build their networks.
Sponsored by Santander, events include many of the bank’s specialists, offering tailored support. The Chartered Institute will also be participating in three ITW Digital Trade Roadshows.
Ahead of next month, when the UK’s membership of CPTPP comes into force, we’re also holding a public webinar exploring what the deal could mean for UK exporters as part of ITW. Executive editor William Barns-Graham will be joined by Garima Srivastava, an international trade legislation senior advisor at the Chartered Institute, as well as Olivia Herford and Daisy Knox, the CPTPP utilisation lead and FTA utilisation lead for Mexico at DBT.
The webinar is taking place as part of International Trade Week and will include discussion about how UK businesses can benefit from the provisions and navigate challenges. The session is will be held on Wednesday 13 November at 2pm. You can still sign up here.
Membership Matters
To mark National Mentoring Day on Thursday (14 November), the Chartered Institute will be holding a special session as part of its mentorship programme, designed to help members form professional relationships and grow their trade skills.
You can join a virtual panel chaired by Mikaela Morgans, our head of academic services, in which she’ll be joined by a Chartered Institute mentor and PLD Mentoring, who will explain how you can get the most out of mentoring.
You can sign up here for Thursday’s session, which will be held at 12pm.
Members trading in Northern Ireland will also have the opportunity to network and discuss the challenges they face at Tuesday’s (12 November) Northern Ireland Member Forum.
Held virtually at 12.30pm, the session will also offer members the chance to share best practices and troubleshoot shared problems. For those wishing to attend, you can sign up here.
Other dates in the diary
Monday – World Meteorological Organization’s provisional statement on the state of climate in 2024 released
Tuesday – Ruling in Shell’s appeal against landmark Dutch ruling
Wednesday – Jonathan Reynolds speech to economic summit in Berlin
Thursday – Rachel Reeves delivers Chancellor’s Mansion House speech
Friday – Welsh Labour Party conference
Saturday – Scottish Liberal Democrat conference
Sunday – Senegal holds snap parliamentary elections