The Changing Face of Commodity Trade
Commodity trading is evolving fast – with significant impact worldwide and changing relationship between states and trading companies. As resource nationalism and energy security concerns reshapes commodity markets, traders are moving beyond their traditional role as intermediaries. They increasingly provide loans to producer states and companies, securing future supplies through pre-financing and offtake agreements. At the same time, resource-rich countries are seeking to capture more value from their natural wealth by becoming market actors themselves and seeking to move up the value-added ladder - selling and trading commodities rather than relying solely on taxes, royalties and dividends.
These developments create new opportunities, but also new dependencies and risks. What does this mean for producer states seeking to turn natural resources into sustainable development outcomes - and what role should commodity traders and other important stakeholders play?
2026 Swiss Academies’ Report
The 2026 Swiss Academies’ Report on "Beyond the Transaction: Commodity Trade and Sustainable Development - Interdisciplinary Literature Review" takes stock of the current evidence on commodity trade and global sustainable development across the academic disciplines of law, economics, environmental, political and social sciences.
Programme
18:30 Welcome and introduction
18:40 The Changing Face of Commodity Trade. Key findings from the report
19:00 Panel Discussion
20:00 Q&As and Networking
Registration
Registration is required. Please register here.
Co-Organizors
The event is jointly organised by ETH NADEL, the Inter-Governmental Forum on Mining and Minerals (IGF), the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT),and the Geneva Graduate Institute's Centre for Finance and Development.
