Multilateralism in crisis

This report examines the crisis in multilateralism by looking at the two most important current efforts to devise new multilateral rules binding all nations; the negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO) of trade rules and the negotiations under the United Nations framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to devise rules restricting the annual emissions of greenhouse gases. Both negotiations have failed after several years of intensive effort – with close parallels between these two experiences. To succeed in future, there must be a convergence of views about the objectives and the allocation of commitments among member countries