Researchers involved in the “Agreement on Agriculture Re-Imagined” initiative, including Elisabeth Bürgi Bonanomi from Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), call for a fundamental redesign of global agricultural trade rules. Moving beyond reform of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, the group proposes a Model Treaty that aligns trade instruments – such as tariffs and subsidies – with sustainability, equity, and food system resilience. The initiative aims to address structural inequalities, strengthen local food systems, and better connect global trade governance with international frameworks on climate, biodiversity, and human rights.

CDE researcher Gabi Sonderegger has received the Bernese Award for Environmental Research for her dissertation analysing how voluntary sustainability standards in agriculture address spillover effects beyond their immediate sphere of action. Her research systematically examined 100 major standards and 21 ecological, social, and economic spillover effects, highlighting important gaps—particularly regarding socio-economic impacts such as labour migration. The work contributes to ongoing debates on sustainability governance in globally interconnected agricultural systems and provides insights for policymakers and standard-setting organizations seeking to improve the effectiveness of sustainability instruments.

This study maps and compares the spatial distribution of ecosystem service (ES) supply and demand in Savannakhet province, Laos. It finds that ES supply is highest in forested and shifting cultivation areas, while food provision is concentrated in lowland agricultural zones. In contrast, demand is more evenly distributed across the landscape. The analysis identifies limited trade-offs (notably between food production and biodiversity) and several synergies, particularly among water-related services and tourism. Supply hotspots are located in less intensively used ecosystems, whereas demand hotspots are widespread. The results highlight the importance of preserving multifunctional landscapes amid increasing agricultural intensification, and provide a spatial basis for targeting interventions to better align ES supply with local demand.

Interview with CDE scientist Henri Rueff, SFIAR member and coordinating lead author of the seventh edition of the United Nations Environment Programme’s flagship Global Environment Outlook report, GEO-7, the most comprehensive scientific assessment of the global environment to date.