You are reading the 20th edition of the Green Trade Network's newsletter, coordinated by IEEP; this monthly digest acts as a nexus for information and key happenings within the world of Green Trade. If this is your first time receiving it, you can find out more here.
For several months now, we’ve resisted the temptation to wade into the uproar surrounding the tariffs announced (and imagined) by the U.S. President. This newsletter is no exception—but we thought it worth explaining our editorial choice. Faced with the unpredictability of a U.S. administration obsessed with a neo-feudal quest for displays of submission from its partners, we’ve chosen instead the long-term thinking around trade partnerships and the strength of ideas shaped quietly through the discipline of the scientific method. The role of international trade in the ecological transition is simply too important to be drowned out by 280-character reactions to frenetic tariff announcements. The EU is currently negotiating pivotal trade deals with Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Australia and others. Each of these comes with serious environmental challenges, but also with real opportunities for cooperation. They deserve careful, sustained attention. For those seeking to track the Trump administration’s announcements and their economic implications, we defer to better-equipped and more specialised sources such as this recent amazing podcast of the Financial Times (Alan Beattie in conversation with Dimitry Grozoubinski).
An EU 2040 climate target is currently in the works, although the Parliament did not approve the proposal to fast-track the legislative process, and a critical COP30 lies ahead, marking ten years since the Paris Agreement and most likely focused on adaptation. Once again, the EU will need to recalibrate its role in a shifting global power landscape. To avoid falling back into EU-bashing ahead of the COP, the Union would have been wise to respond to the concerns of Global South countries—particularly regarding the economic impact of autonomous measures such as the EU CBAM (ICYMI, our colleagues from IISD just released this immensely insightful guidance on the EU CBAM). Instead, the European Commission has floated the idea of a CBAM-funded export rebate. This risks undermining both the global acceptability of CBAM and the EU’s credibility at COP, all while offering little real relief to export-oriented European industries. Don’t miss thisexcellent commentaryby ODI’s and GTN member David Kleimannon the issue, and future GTN activities as of September.
Meanwhile, reports indicate that in the ongoing transatlantic negotiations—intended to prevent the imposition of additional U.S. tariffs—Washington is pushing for an exemption from, or a workaround to, CBAM, EUDR and other pieces of EU environmental legislation. These developments are extremely troubling. The EU Green Deal is a formidable acquis of the previous mandate. It is not and should not be negotiable, under no circumstance. Is CBAM destined to follow the same trajectory as the CSDDD, the CSRD, and so many other flagship initiatives of the last legislative term—bold in ambition, demanding in effort, yet modest in impact after the omnibus revisions? The real focus right now should be not only on confirming the EU’s new climate target, but also on defining a shared work agenda—especially with emerging economies, as part of a broader economic partnership package. A recent ECFR blog authored by IEEP Associate Mats Engtröm and ECFR’s Susi Dennison, offers some compelling proposals on this front and highlights just how difficult it has become to make the case for EU climate leadership on the global stage.
As we wrap up the professional year, I want to thank you for your continued readership—and to celebrate some of the highlights we’ve shared. April’s Green Trade Day 2025 was a huge success with over 200 participants in the room and online. We also held an insightful workshop on CTIPs in Warsaw in the framework of Think2030, and our network played a key role in shaping the debate around the future of the EU-Mercosur agreement, with a webinar viewed over 20,000 times on YouTube... and there would be so much more to say. Our membership has been constantly growing since our creation in 2021, which adds to this long list of positives.
We wish you a wonderful summer period and look forward to reconnecting in September—ready to keep driving the debate on greener and fairer trade policies!
This briefing, commissioned by the ENVI committee of the European Parliament, provides an overview of the challenges and opportunities for a joint approach towards the SDGs, in a time of multiple global crises. Read more
Electric vehicles represent the future of the automotive industry. However, to maintain a strong position in vehicle production—where Chinese companies benefit from economies of scale, substantial public support and internal regional competition—Europe must overcome its current phase of ambiguity and fragmentation and adopt a strategy that combines open trade, a strengthened industrial base and renewed diplomatic activism. Read more
Authors: Chris Aylett, Chantal Line Carpentier, Maksym Chepeliev, Claudia Contreras, Aaron Cosbey, Martin Denis, Åsa Ekdahl, Carolyn Fischer, Stephen Karingi, Michael J Lawrence, Janet Njambi Macharia, Michael A. Mehling, Andreea Miu, Preeya Mohan, Ngan Kim Vu, Matthew C. Porterfield, Aparna Sharma, Pedro da Motta Veiga, Nagesh Kumar, Sandra Polonia Rios
The report provides guidance on border carbon adjustment (BCA) that respects development and climate objectives as well as developing country perspectives. It was created by a multistakeholder group of experts to balance trade, climate, and development goals. Read more
This brief from ISEAL Alliance and IISD provides an overview of the integration of voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs) into trade policies, including due diligence laws and trade agreements. It explains how governments can ensure those standards are credible and support producers, especially in developing countries. Read more
The Fair Trade Advocacy Office’s analysis of the US trade war and opportunities for the EU to lead a shift toward just, sustainable, and equitable global trade partnerships. Read more
E3G's evaluation of the EU’s trade and climate toolkit finds that bilateral partnerships offer the best opportunities to drive progress in the new world order, diversifying global supply chains and supporting economic security. Read more
About the Green Trade Network
The Green Trade Network (GTN) is a group of policy experts from 25 research organisations, ranging from think tanks to NGOs and academia, conducting evidence-based research and outreach activities on the trade and environment nexus. GTN member organisations are based in 9 EU Member States and the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. The GTN aims to collectively promote a European agenda for a better alignment of trade policies and trade-impacting measures with critical environmental and climate objectives.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor CINEA can be held responsible for them
The Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) is an independent sustainability think tank with offices in Brussels. As a not-for-profit organisation with over 40 years of experience, we are committed to advancing impact-driven sustainability policy across the EU and the world.
Institute for European Environmental Policy, Rue Joseph II 36-38, 1000, Brussels, Belgium, 022111097
