Green Trade Workshop 2024

 Early Career Researcher Workshop

The Greening of Trade in Times of Planetary and Geopolitical Crises?

Ideas, Institutions, and Interdependence in the Environment-Trade-Nexus

8-9th July 2024, KU Leuven | hybrid

The paradigm of environmental liberalism has come under pressure in the environment-trade-nexus. The environmental crises in climate and biodiversity require trade actors to decrease their environmental footprint and to increase their contribution to a sustainable world economy. However, multilateral cooperation at the WTO seems to be stuck, bilateral trade agreements take time to negotiate, and the limits of voluntary instruments to make trade more sustainable are increasingly salient. As a result, some states are shifting back to mandatory and unilateral approaches such as CBAM or due diligence. At the same time, geopolitical tensions are jeopardizing international economic cooperation. International conflicts are changing trade relations, shifting trade routes, and reshaping supply chains. Despite the ecological and economic interdependence, cooperation and competition between trade actors are renegotiated after decades of trade liberalization for example with respect to green industrial policies, energy supply or critical raw materials. These developments generate challenges for the sustainable transformation of global consumption and production patterns, the liberal trading system, the just transition of different actors, and the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

This workshop aims to critically reflect on these developments as well as discourses, policies, laws, and institutions in the environment-trade-nexus, as they shape and reshape socio-ecological impacts in trade and environment. We welcome submissions that investigate the environment-trade-nexus from the perspectives of different disciplines such as political science, law, economics, geography, and environmental sciences. Submissions can investigate themes such as:

• What are the drivers of change or continuity in the environment-trade-nexus?

• Which ideas, narratives, discourses, and legal principles legitimize policies in the environment-trade-nexus?

• What innovations or trends are emerging in political or judicial decision-making to govern the interactions and challenges in the environment-trade-nexus?

• How are institutions in the environment-trade-nexus designed and implemented?

• What are the effects of trade or environmental policies and laws (including case laws) on the environment or trade?

• How does the changing geopolitical or institutional context affect efforts to green trade?

• How do consumers, non-governmental organizations and private actors perceive the increase in environmental regulation along the supply chain?

• How do critical, postcolonial, feminist, or degrowth perspectives look at the current developments in the environment-trade-nexus?

Applicants may conduct theoretical, empirical, doctrinal or critical enquiries, using quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods, focusing on governmental, non-governmental, private or international actors, polices, laws, institutions, or systems.

Practicalities

This workshop aims to provide a platform for early-career researchers, however we accept applications from scholars at different stages of their careers. The Green Trade Lab is committed to promoting the work of historically marginalized groups and voices.

The workshop will take place in a hybrid format in two half days on 8th July (afternoon) and 9th July (morning) 2024 at KU Leuven, Belgium. To participate, please send your abstract (max. 250 words) by 7th April 2024 via this form https://forms.gle/ygsvWB3SxbwTyQ6Y6. Notification of acceptance will be sent out by 14th April 2024. 

Finance

Participation in the workshop is free. The workshop benefits from funding of the VUB Jean Monnet Chair ECOValence (Grant 101085564), the VUB Jean Monnet Module SUSTAEN, the University of Antwerp Global Engagement and the KU Leuven Doctoral School for the Humanities and Social Sciences Young Researchers' Careers. Limited funding will be available for participants who necessitate financial support.

Important Dates

7th April 2024  Deadline for Abstract (max. 250 words)

14th April 2024 Notification of Acceptance

14th May 2024     Submission of extended Abstracts (max. 1000 words) 

21st June 2024 Deadline Draft Paper submission (max. 7500 words)

8th-9th July 2024  Workshop

We look forward to your submissions! Depending on the interests of the authors and the quality of the submissions, we consider developing a special issue building on this workshop. Should you have any questions, please contact us at greentradelab@gmail.com.

Charline Depoorter, KU Leuven

Paulina Flores Martinez, University of York

Scott Hamilton, Antwerp University

Simon Happersberger, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

The Green Trade Lab offset 3,874 kg of CO2 greenhouse gases related to the GTL 2024 workshop on Aug 11, 2024 with the non-profit organisation atmosfair.