Trade and Climate Sustainability Brief Series 2026 – LSE & African Climate Foundation

TULIP carried out policy research for the African Climate Foundation (ACF) and the LSE Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa, producing policy briefs examining the intersection of climate change and trade policy from an African perspective. After contributing to the inaugural 2024 edition, TULIP is once again contributing to the annual collection of Briefs on Trade and Climate Sustainability, published by the Africa Trade Policy Programme at the LSE Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa and the African Climate Foundation. Inspired by a growing recognition that trade and trade policy have a key role to play in advancing planetary sustainability, the collection brings together briefs on topical trade-climate issues as a resource for African policymakers, trade and climate negotiators, private sector and civil society stakeholders, and international partners.

For the 2026 edition (forthcoming), TULIP is contributing two briefs. The first examines the evolving landscape of border carbon adjustments and their differentiated implications for African countries. With the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) fully operational since January 2026 and the UK set to launch its own CBAM in January 2027, the brief assesses country- and sector-specific exposure across three time horizons, drawing on case studies from Morocco, Egypt, Mozambique, South Africa, Guinea, Ghana, and Namibia. It finds that CBAM produces markedly uneven outcomes across the continent, driven by differences in production methods, energy sources, and institutional readiness, and sets out recommendations for both African governments and the EU. The second brief examines the outcomes of the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14), which took place in Yaoundé, Cameroon from 26 to 29 March 2026, and their implications for Africa’s trade and development agenda.