While trade exacerbates climate change, it is also a central part of the solution because it has the potential to enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation. Trade also has the potential to contribute to poverty alleviation, job creation, shifting production to areas with cleaner production processes, and delivering goods and services for recovery from extreme weather events.
This report explores the different ways in which trade and climate change intersect. It presents research on the impacts of, and adjustments to, climate change in developing countries and on how future opportunities for trade diversification will be affected by both the changing climate and the policy responses to address it.
The report also confronts several myths concerning trade and climate change in order to build greater understanding of how suitable trade and environmental policies can offer effective economic incentives to attain sustainable growth and poverty reduction.