The Remaking Trade for a Sustainable Future Project
The Remaking Trade Project works to advance pathways that align global trade with sustainable development.
The global trading system is facing mounting pressure—from climate change and technological advancement to rising inequality and shifting geopolitics. To respond to these challenges and remain fit for the 21st century, trust in the system must be rebuilt through deep reform.
Our Approach
Launched in June 2021, our work is grounded in the sustainable development mandate of the World Trade Organization’s 1994 Marrakesh Agreement. The Project seeks to accelerate and support the reshaping of global trade governance. It does so by strengthening the ecosystem of actors—in governments, international institutions, civil society, and the private sector—working to ensure that the trade system supports prosperity for all on a livable planet.
Our vision is a trusted and fair global trade system that actively advances the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainable development.
Our Collaborators
The Remaking Trade Project is a collaboration among the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and the Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Law, Policy and Services at the University of the West Indies and other partners around the world. The Project brings together stakeholders—including policymakers, researchers/academics, international organization officials, environmental advocates, and private sector representatives— to strengthen the role of trade in advancing sustainable development.
An Agenda for Reform of the Multilateral Trade System
Our flagship report, the Villars Framework for Trade System Reform, was produced through collaboration with more than 400 experts around the world and provides a practical roadmap for reshaping global trade governance. Now in its third iteration, this trade system reform agenda aims to reinvigorate the WTO, strengthen the legitimacy of the trade system, and rebuild public and political confidence by demonstrating that trade can deliver real sustainable development outcomes.
How We Work
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We catalyze the development and dissemination of new research and policy ideas that advance innovative approaches to trade governance and sustainable development.
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We bring together policymakers, business leaders, academics, and civil society through strategic convenings and network building to foster dialogue, build alignment, and accelerate momentum for reform.
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We support champions and coalitions working to advance pragmatic reforms that strengthen the contribution of the global trading system to sustainable development.
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We help prepare the next generation of leaders and advocates working at the intersection of trade policy, sustainability, and global economic governance.
A Partnership Between
Workshops and White Papers
The Project’s reform agenda will emerge from a series of workshops to be held at a variety of venues across the world. Each workshop will bring together 30-35 thought leaders for a deep dive into a specific problem facing the trading system and will be undergirded with a set of white papers that present the critical issues and possible reform proposals. These gatherings will explore the contours of the issues presented, the reasons for the pushback they create against the trading system, alternative paths forward, and an assessment of the reforms that are required.
