SDG 13: Climate Action | SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals
Institutions: Ministry of Commerce & Industry | Directorate General of Foreign Trade
COP30 in Belém, Brazil has formally elevated trade as a core pillar of global climate action by assigning a direct operational role to the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the Geneva Trade Hub. The move reflects a growing international consensus that climate goals cannot be met without transforming global value chains, decarbonising production, and enabling small producers to meet emerging sustainability standards.
Under the new mandate, ITC will support countries in building climate-aligned value chains, improving SME competitiveness in low-carbon sectors, and expanding deforestation-free and resilient trade practices. The Geneva hub will coordinate technical assistance, market-access tools and multi-stakeholder partnerships to help countries align trade measures with Nationally Determined Contributions.
For India, this shift is significant. India is expanding exports of green hydrogen components, renewable-energy equipment, organic and deforestation-free agro-products, and several climate-positive services. The new ITC framework strengthens opportunities to integrate India’s trade policy with its domestic climate agenda and to future-proof exporters against rising sustainability-compliance requirements across the EU, UK and G7.
What is the Geneva Trade Hub?→ A collaborative platform in Geneva that supports countries in aligning trade, value chains and SME competitiveness with global climate goals. It matters because it centralises climate-trade technical assistance previously spread across multiple institutions.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders:
How can India integrate MSME-focused green-trade support into DGFT’s export-promotion architecture to leverage the new ITC–Geneva Trade Hub mandate?
Follow the full news here: COP30 elevates trade with a direct role for ITC and the Geneva trade hub