Ministry Statements & Speeches:
We, the Ministers and representatives responsible for trade from Chile, New Zealand, and Singapore have met in Paris, France on 2 June 2025 to discuss the progress of the Joint Working Group on Trade and the Green Economy (Joint Working Group) which we established in Lima, Peru, on 14 November 2024. The Joint Working Group was formed to consider proposals for a possible new initiative to boost trade and investment in the green economy.
Trade plays a crucial role in advancing the green transition by facilitating cross-border flows of goods, services, technology and finance necessary to enable it. However, the speed of regulatory and technological change as part of the global effort to transition to net zero risks creating increasing levels of fragmentation among trading partners and with it, complexity for international exporters and investors.
We believe that by leveraging and enhancing international trade and investment a successful transition to a greener economy can be achieved. To do this, the actions required should draw on the relative economic, geographic and environmental advantages and strengths of different sectors and economies, and should not be more trade-restrictive or burdensome than necessary to achieve their policy objectives.
Chile, New Zealand and Singapore share a decades-long history of working together to advance innovative trade architecture, from the origins of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (P4) to the groundbreaking Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), and we are now determined to work together in new ways to advance our trade, investment, sustainable finance and green economy interests together.
Today, officials of the Joint Working Group presented us with their findings on opportunities for a new trade instrument called the ‘Green Economy Partnership.’ This instrument would operate as an enabling framework for ambitious initiatives that boost trade and investment in this area both among our economies and with other trading partners. The Green Economy Partnership would enhance trade in environmental goods and services, promote investment, enhance cross-border financial flows, and foster better alignment of regulatory approaches to strengthen the integration of our markets in priority sectors of the green economy.
We note the report of the Joint Working Group. Officials will refine the key recommendations and develop a proposed work plan on a possible ‘Green Economy Partnership’ for us to consider at our next meeting, later in 2025.