Trade & climate change: ITC at COP

ITC supports small businesses around the world, like this cocoa entrepreneur in Ghana.

Climate change is the defining issue of our time. The International Trade Centre is uniquely placed to demonstrate how small business climate action and trade can contribute to global climate objectives.  

ITC, as the UN small business agency, actively brings these entrepreneurs’ voices to global forums such as the conference of the parties, more commonly known as COP, which is part of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In recent years, ITC has deepened its involvement in UNFCCC processes. At COP27, ITC hosted a pavilion showcasing MSME climate actions. For COP28, ITC collaborated with partners like WTO and UNCTAD to highlight the role of trade in climate action, and took a delegation of small businesses to bring their voice to the negotiations.

At COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan, ITC will focus on showcasing the work its doing to integrate small businesses into the ongoing process of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), at country level, which connects with the new global climate finance goal that is expected to be at the centre of the negotiations.

The existing climate finance commitment by countries, of $100 billion annually, will end next year. A realistic finance commitment is key to support a transition to low emissions in developing countries. The World Resources Institute estimates that developing countries need at least $5.3 trillion to implement their national climate plans. Those plans will contribute to the effort to reach the goal of keeping global warming at 1.5 C by 2030, as per the Paris Agreement reached between nations in 2015. 

The COP28 UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai was historic, gathering 85,000 participants, including over 150 Heads of State and Government.

Read more about ITC's events at COP28 or through the articles below.