Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability

Last updated
Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability
Members of the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability.svg
  Members of the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability
Type Trade agreement
Negotiators

The Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) is a proposed trade agreement between Costa Rica, Iceland, New Zealand and Switzerland. The deal will eliminate tariffs on hundreds of environmental goods and services alongside carbon emission reduction commitments. [1] Negotiations concluded on the 2nd July 2024 [2] and the agreement is expected to be signed later in 2024 following legal verification. [3]

Contents

History

ACCTS was first proposed in 2019 by New Zealand and negotiations started between New Zealand, Fiji, Costa Rica, Iceland and Norway. [4] Switzerland joined negotiations in 2020. [5] In 2021, the United Kingdom indicated they would not join the agreement in order to maintain their fossil fuel subsidies. [6] New Zealand, Costa Rica, Iceland and Switzerland finished negotiations in July 2024 following fifteen rounds. Norway continues to consider joining. [3]

Provisions

ACCTS includes provisions for:

Membership

Current

The following countries have committed to signing ACCTS following legal review: [8]

Potential

The following countries have voiced interest in joining in the future:

ACCTS is open to all World Trade Organisation members to join. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Free Trade Association</span> Regional trade organization and free trade area

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is a regional trade organization and free trade area consisting of four European states: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The organization operates in parallel with the European Union (EU), and all four member states participate in the European single market and are part of the Schengen Area. They are not, however, party to the European Union Customs Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free Trade Area of the Americas</span> Failed 2005 trade agreement for North and South America

The Free Trade Area of the Americas was a proposed agreement to eliminate or reduce the trade barriers among all countries in the Americas, excluding Cuba. Negotiations to establish the FTAA ended in failure, however, with all parties unable to reach an agreement by the 2005 deadline they had set for themselves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cairns Group</span>

The Cairns Group is an interest group of 19 agricultural exporting countries, composed of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine, Uruguay, and Vietnam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement</span> Free trade agreement

The Dominican Republic–Central America–United States Free Trade Agreement is a free trade agreement. Originally, the agreement encompassed the United States and the Central American countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, and was called CAFTA. In 2004, the Dominican Republic joined the negotiations, and the agreement was renamed CAFTA-DR.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Groser</span> New Zealand politician and ambassador

Timothy John Groser is a New Zealand former politician and diplomat. A member of the New Zealand National Party, Groser was a Member of Parliament between 2005 and 2015. He held the offices of Minister of Trade, Minister of Conservation, and Minister for Climate Change in the Fifth National Government.

The New Zealand–China Free Trade Agreement is a bilateral free trade agreement signed between the People's Republic of China and New Zealand in April 2008. It is the first free trade agreement that China has signed with any developed country, and New Zealand's largest trade deal since the 1983 Closer Economic Relations agreement with Australia. The New Zealand-China FTA was signed on 7 April 2008 in Beijing, after negotiations that spanned fifteen rounds over three years. It entered into force on 1 October 2008, after ratification by the New Zealand Parliament. The provisions of the agreement are expected to be phased in gradually over 12 years, fully coming into force in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free trade agreements of New Zealand</span>

New Zealand is party to 14 free trade agreements (FTAs) worldwide. Together they accounted for over 70% of New Zealand's trade in 2023.

The Ministerial Conference is the top decision making body of the World Trade Organization (WTO). There have been twelve ministerial conferences from 1996 to 2022, usually every two years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iceland–India relations</span> Bilateral relations

Iceland–India relations are the bilateral relations between Iceland and India. Historically, these relations have been friendly but lacked substantive content. Iceland and India established diplomatic relations in 1972. At that time the embassy of Iceland in London, United Kingdom was accredited to India and the embassy of India in Oslo, Norway, was accredited to Iceland. Embassies were established in New Delhi in 2005 and in Reykjavík in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iceland–South Korea relations</span> Bilateral relations

Iceland–South Korea relations are primarily based on cooperation over maritime issues, such as whaling and bottom trawling, and on bilateral trade in technology and fish products. Diplomatic relations between Iceland and the Republic of Korea were established on October 10, 1962 according to the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs gives the date as 19 April 1982. Iceland's Embassy in Beijing is accredited to South Korea, and Iceland also has two honorary consulates in Seoul. South Korea's embassy in Oslo, Norway is accredited to Iceland, and South Korea has an honorary consulate in Reykjavík.

The Centre for Research on Energy Security (CeRES) is an Indian research center housed at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) focusing on Indian relations to energy and consequences on itself and the world, diplomatically, economically and socially. The center was created on 31 May 2005. The CeRES team is based in the India Habitat Centre office of TERI in New Delhi, India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement</span>

The Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPSEP), also known as P4, is a trade agreement between four Pacific Rim countries concerning a variety of matters of economic policy. The agreement was signed by Brunei, Chile, Singapore and New Zealand in 2005 and entered into force in 2006. It is a comprehensive trade agreement, affecting trade in goods, rules of origin, trade remedies, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, trade in services, intellectual property, government procurement and competition policy. Among other things, it called for reduction by 90 percent of all tariffs between member countries by 1 January 2006, and reduction of all trade tariffs to zero by the year 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">René Castro</span>

René Castro Salazar, was FAO's Climate, Biodiversity, Land and Water Department Assistant-Director General and a former Costa Rican politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vangelis Vitalis</span> New Zealand diplomat and trade negotiator

Vangelis (Evangelos) Vitalis is a New Zealand diplomat and trade negotiator currently working as the Deputy Secretary for the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership</span> 2020 Asia-Pacific free trade agreement

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is a free trade agreement among the Asia-Pacific countries of Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The 15 member countries account for about 30% of the world's population and 30% of global GDP, making it the largest trade bloc in history. Signed in November 2020, RCEP is the first free trade agreement among the largest economies in Asia, including China, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea.

The negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement were held between 12 countries between 2008 and 2015. The negotiations were aimed at obtaining an agreement between the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement parties Brunei, Chile, Singapore and New Zealand, as well as the Australia and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand–European Union relations</span> Bilateral relations

New Zealand and the European Union (EU) have solid relations and increasingly see eye-to-eye on international issues. The EU-New Zealand relations are founded on a Joint Declaration on Relations and Cooperation, first agreed in 2007. It covers not just economic relations, but broader political issues and cooperation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free trade agreements of the United Kingdom</span> Post-Brexit arrangements

Following its withdrawal from the European Union on 31 January 2020, the United Kingdom began negotiations on several free trade agreements to remove or reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, both to establish new agreements and to replace previous EU trade agreements. Withdrawal ended 47 years of membership during which all its trading agreements were negotiated by the European Commission on behalf of the bloc. The UK did not actually withdraw from the European Single Market and the European Union Customs Union until 31 December 2020.

References

  1. "Tariffs removed on key wool and wood products in trade deal". RNZ. 2024-07-03. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  2. 1 2 "Agreement on Climate Change and Trade". Kommerskollegium. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Trade, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and. "Timelines". New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  4. Benson, Emily; Duncan, Elizabeth (2022-08-30). "Small Country, Big Climate Agenda: New Zealand's Approach to Climate and Trade". Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
  5. "Update: New Zealand with Costa Rica, Fiji, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland - Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS)". WITA. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  6. "UK refuses to join trade pact to end fossil fuel subsidies, eliminate tariffs on green goods". POLITICO. 2021-11-11. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  7. Trade, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and. "Fossil fuel subsidy reform (FFSR)". New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  8. "Joint Ministerial Statement on Conclusion of Negotiations for the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability" (PDF). New Zealand Government. 2024-07-02. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  9. Affairs, Ministry of Foreign (2024-07-02). "Statement from Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide on the Announcement of the Conclusion of Negotiations for the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability". Government.no. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  10. Reinsch, William Alan (2024-08-12). "A Small Sign of Life on the Climate-Trade Front". Centre for Strategic and International Studies.