This morning of Monday, October 14, 2024 marked the fourth session of the ongoing Equitrade 2024 project at the Haute Ecole Provinciale de Hainaut - Condorcet, where Professor Alexandre Mabille’s undergraduate students in international trade take charge of the intersection between fair trade and climate action.

During the Fair Trade Week, three inspiring speakers laid the foundations for the students’ upcoming negotiations, guiding them to become active and dynamic agents of change for a sustainable future.
🚀 To launch the day, the Belgian Fair Trade Federation’s Pierre-Yves Brasseur linked the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to the fundamental principles of fair trade, giving students examples of how ethical trade can be powerful in having a positive environmental and social impact.

Next, two dynamic and brilliant ambassadors from the European Climate Pact (from the EU’s Benelux Climate Pact and the EU’s Environment and Climate Pact) gave the students relevant information.

First Ambassador Arvea Marieni delivered a remarkable speech, offering fantastic scientific information on the climate crisis, decomposing the key decisions taken at last year’s COP negotiations and explaining the urgency of global climate agreements. Her powerful message ? The time to act is NOW.

Our second ambassador Lidia Esther Aviles detailed the European Climate Pact, highlighting everyone’s role in the fight against climate. She brilliantly linked fair trade to climate action, showing how sustainable practices can affect on all sectors of society.

Her inspiring message ? ALL ABOARD.

🚀 Students are now ready to begin discussions and negotiations, embodying their role as future leaders.

We look forward to meaningful discussions that will shape a just and sustainable future.

As Christiana Figueres reminds us, “We are unstoppable, not because we do not fail or doubt, but because we keep going despite them.”