Kenya’s candidate, Amina Mohamed, vying for the position of director of the World Trade Organization, has pledged to integrate climate change issues into the WTO agenda if selected. She said WTO must be a part of the global conversation on climate change.
Amina Mohamed and Nigerian Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala are the two women and standing candidates from Africa. Amina Mohamed, Kenya`s former sports minister, along with four other candidates, has progressed to the second round of selection to become the next WTO director-general.
She was involved in the development of green financial instruments when she was the deputy head of the U.N. Agency for the Environment (UNEP), and said she would make the WTO’S trade and environment committee active.
She said, the committee’s first task, if she wins the selection contest, would be to draw up rules for the international trade of environmental goods and services like solar panels and wind turbines. It will also look to replicate climate change mitigation initiatives, like the carbon tax in Europe, which is now being adopted by other states in places like Africa.
The WTO’s 164 members will give their preferences between now and first week of October, whittling down the number of candidates to two. The organization has said it wants to select the winner by early November.
