WE are in the toughest period the world economy has faced since the creation of the multilateral system more than three-quarters of a century ago.
A quadruple shock of Covid-19, climate change, conflict and cost-of-living issues has undone years of hard-fought development gains.
As financial conditions tighten, even countries that seemed on track to prosperity and stability are now staring into the abyss of debt distress, fragility and uncertainty about the future.
Coordinated, multilateral action is necessary to tackle the crises we face. Aid and trade have key roles to play in reversing the impacts of this quadruple shock and putting the world back on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
We head the three international agencies that comprise the Geneva trade hub: the World Trade Organisation (WTO), UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) and the International Trade Centre (ITC).
WTO makes and monitors the rules for global trade.
Unctad delivers research and consensus-building to guide governments.
ITC helps small business go global, especially firms led by women and young entrepreneurs. We work together so that trade works better for development.
All three of us share a deep commitment to trade-led prosperity. All three of us understand that a world in crisis means no more business as usual.
And all three of us want our organisations to walk the talk on making aid and trade deliver for real people.
To guide aid and trade to a better world, policymakers need to pivot in three ways.
First, make trade greener. Global trade can play an important role in a transition to a low-carbon economy.
Preliminary research at WTO suggests that removing tariffs and regulatory trade barriers for a set of energy-related environmental goods would reduce global CO2 emissions by 0.6 per cent in 2030 just from improved energy efficiency.
There will be additional potential gains from innovation spillovers and as lower prices accelerate the shift to renewable energy and less carbon-intensive products.
Second, make trade more inclusive. Promoting greater trade by small businesses and greater participation by women and youth make companies and countries more competitive, drives economic transformation and reduces poverty.
Yet, ITC business surveys found that one only out of every five exporting companies is women-led.
WTO data show that micro, small and medium-sized firms represent around 95 per cent of all companies globally but only one-third of total exports.
Third, make trade more connected. In our networked world, the future of trade is through digital channels and platforms, especially for small businesses.
During the pandemic, we saw how doing business online went from being useful to critical for survival.
Unctad data shows that digitally delivered services reached almost two-thirds the level of global services exports.
These themes will be discussed at the Global Review of Aid for Trade from July 27 to 29 in Geneva, Switzerland
The event comes one month after the WTO's Twelfth Ministerial Conference, which put trade multilateralism back on track and delivered a agreement on fisheries subsidies, and two months before the COP27 meeting in Egypt that could determine the world's chances to keep the 1.5°C target alive.
The data shows promising signs that aid for trade is tilting to greater sustainability, inclusivity and connectivity.
OECD and WTO data reveal a record high of nearly US$50 billion in aid for trade disbursements in 2020, of which half were either climate or gender related, and one-third supported the digital economy.
Despite growing budgetary pressures at home, it is important to continue and increase these aid for trade flows.
Apart from a stronger thematic focus on sustainability, inclusivity and connectivity, maximising the contribution of aid for trade to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals requires a resolute focus on the "where" and "how" of delivering development results.
This means a focus on those countries whose trade and development needs are highest — particularly least developed countries and fragile or conflict-affected countries — and regional initiatives like African Continental Free Trade Area, to ensure they become stepping stones to wider and more inclusive regional value chains and trade-led growth.
It means partnership across international organisations.
WTO, Unctad and ITC already collaborate on initiatives like the Global Trade Helpdesk, which simplifies market research by bringing trade and business information to a single portal, as well as on support to cotton-exporting countries in Africa.
Last but certainly not least, it means mobilising public and private finance.
IFC estimates a worldwide US$300 billion financing gap for women, and the global trade finance gap has nearly doubled from US$1.5 trillion.
Without access to finance, firms cannot grow, diversify or formalise.
We want to end with a call to action. Creating a more sustainable, inclusive and connected future is the moon shot of our times.
Aid, trade and multilateralism — working together — are part of the solution. It is normal and understandable that governments act to shore up their economies in troubled times.
But we must act now to ensure that the world's poorest and most vulnerable can still see a pathway to prosperity through global trade.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is WTO director-general; Rebeca Grynspan is Unctad secretary-general, and Pamela Coke-Hamilton is International Trade Centre executive director