The April 2023 Remaking the Global Trading System for a More Sustainable Future Project workshop held in Taormina, Italy. This workshop, in collaboration with Silverado Policy Accelerator, explored the challenges and opportunities in aligning the global trading system with circular production methods. The workshop brought together a diverse group of 30 thought leaders including international organization officials (from the WTO and other entities), national trade policymakers, business executives, and researchers to exchange perspectives and chart a path forward for employing trade policy to stimulate the global circular economy and promote sustainable development.

The triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation requires a revolution in production and consumption habits that reorients supply chains towards reuse, recycling and overall sustainability—a transformation commonly described as a pivot to a “circular economy.” A circular economic model, in which end-of-life products are transformed into commodities or harvested for raw materials, has numerous advantages over prevailing “linear” production models, including reduced harmful ecological impacts from manufacturing and extractive sectors, the creation of new jobs to support reverse supply chains, and less dependence on scarce mineral resources. Moving towards a more circular economy will require a corresponding evolution in trade rules and norms to support the transition and a greater coherence in the policies at domestic, regional and international levels that affect that economy. Against this background, a number of themes were explored by workshop participants around dedicated sessions dealing with circular economy principles; trade facilitation; design and supply chain issues; an inclusive net zero circular economy; and competitiveness and business realities.