The WTO has long prioritized the interests of wealthy nations and corporations over the development of the Global South. From undermining local food security to enforcing digital monopolies, the current trade system has locked developing countries into a cycle of commodity dependence and economic inequality.
As the 14th Ministerial Conference convenes in Yaoundé, we witness a system in crisis. Rather than reform, hegemonic powers are attempting to consolidate control by dismantling consensus-based decision-making and sidelining the needs of the democratic majority.
We believe the crisis of the WTO is an opportunity for a global shift. We call for an end to this exploitative model and the creation of a new, just trade framework one rooted in economic solidarity, food sovereignty, and climate justice.
PPSCP and TRADE
Throughout its existence, the World Trade Organization’s mandate to set rules for an international trading order has resulted in unfettered liberalization causing far-reaching and disastrous impacts in the economy, agriculture sector and food systems of people in the developing world.
Our call for Peoples Trade Agenda addresses the relationship between trade regimes and sustainable consumption and production.
PPSCP and CLIMATE JUSTICE
A People Powered Transition promotes community-led climate action and energy transitions. While just transition is increasingly taken up in bilateral and plurilateral platforms through trade agreements, poor and resource-rich countries are often pressured to adopt Northern-led free trade policies that allow for the easy extraction and export of their minerals.
PPSCP and CRITICAL MINERALS
The People Centred Critical Minerals Governance addresses extractivism, rights violations, and social and environmental impacts. Through the integrated analysis of extractivism and trade, we can trace how the global scramble for critical minerals and existing trade agreements reinforce inequalities and resource plunder in the Global South.
