Pardee Center Hosts Workshop on Trade and Climate Change Policy

Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future and Global Economic Governance Initiative (GEGI), along with Georgetown University’s Harrison Institute for Public Law, hosted an international experts’ workshop titled “Reconciling Trade and Climate Change Policy: Opportunities and Challenges” on Monday, April 25 at the Pardee Center. Pardee Center Faculty Research Fellow Kevin Gallagher co-convened the meeting with Matthew Porterfield of the Harrison Institute.

The workshop included 16 participants with backgrounds in economics, trade and investment policy, international law, energy, national and global environmental governance, agricultural economics, and climate change. The purpose of the meeting was to examine the extent to which the increasing number of trade and investment treaties are opportunities to achieve broader climate change goals in concert with international agreements such as the December 2015 Paris climate talks accord. The workshop also identified possible challenges that new trade and investment treaties might pose for climate change policy formation.

Following the meeting, the co-organizers will synthesize the experts’ findings into a short report that may help decision makers to better integrate trade and climate policy in a manner that helps transition the world economy toward a lower­-carbon future.

The workshop is part of Prof. Gallagher’s work as a Pardee Center Faculty Research Fellow.