World Trade Institute (WTI) Past Events
Our annual flagship conference, co-organised with the Global Governance Programme at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Sciences (European University Institute), it brings together researchers and practitioners working in the area of trade and development.
This course will introduce students to the intersections between international trade and the circular economy and in particular how trade can facilitate the transition to an inclusive circular economy. The course will first introduce students to the many different global developments emerging on the circular economy (at the national, regional and intergovernmental levels) as well as the emerging tensions and debates associated with the topic. Subsequently, the lecturers will explore how to harness the international trade system to advance a globally equitable and inclusive transition to a circular economy. We will look at how the circular economy transition may fundamentally alter value chains and therefore future trade patterns as well as the different types of trade flow which enable the circular economy.
The fabric of international trade is made of international contracts that organise the purchase and sale of goods and services involving consumers, businesses and, at times, public actors in the global market. This course enables participants to understand the essential elements of international contracts and how to solve the disputes that might arise in connection with them. The course provides an overview of the legal framework of international contracts, including domestic and international sources with a special focus on the CISG and sector-specific rules. Participants will analyse the most common contractual clauses and the challenges related to their application, encompassing force majeure and hardship clauses as well as ESG and business and human rights clauses, which are gaining increasing relevance due to the current global situation. Participants will be made familiar with the wide range of dispute resolution mechanisms available and their advantages and disadvantages.
Effective climate change mitigation and adaptation requires the implementation of appropriate technologies in all countries concerned. Most of these technologies are protected by intellectual property rights, and dissemination depends upon the transfer and dissemination of technology. The course offers the foundations in law and economics of intellectual property rights, in particular patents and trade secrets, voluntary licensing and competition law, access to patent information and landscaping.
This course will provide participants with a thorough understanding of the legal and economic aspects of the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) as it relates to sustainable development. The focus will be on the legal and economic opportunities and limitations imposed by the TBT Agreement on laws and regulations designed to further sustainable development. The faculty will give prominent attention to environment-related WTO cases and EU regulations governing environmental goods and services (ESG), as well as the economic relationship arising from non-tariff measures (NTMs) designed to further sustainable development.
Different types of investment pose different challenges and opportunities for sustainable development. Further, over the last decade, the patterns of international production for goods and services determining international investment are increasingly being shaped by deep transformations resulting from climate change, geopolitics and technology breakthroughs. These tectonic shifts have translated into domestic and international social and political pressures to reshape the international investment regime. Within this context, from a multidisciplinary perspective, this course will provide participants with a thorough understanding of these developments and how they are shaping international investment law.
Tackling the climate crisis requires rapid and unprecedented regulatory change at domestic and international levels. This course will use a multidisciplinary approach, covering law and economics, to explore how to bring about this change effectively and inclusively. This course is for anyone interested in the law and economics of climate change & climate justice – policymakers, academics, NGOs, investors and lawyers working on sustainability issues.