The World Trade Institute (WTI) was established in 1999 with the aim of bridging a gap in the university education system: offering academic programmes, research opportunities and tailor-made courses focusing on the regulation of international trade and investment. As a centre for excellence at the University of Bern with an international, interdisciplinary focus, the WTI explores the interconnections between the fields of law, economics and political science.

The WTI hosts the NCCR Programme Trade Regulation, which aims to clarify how the world trading system functions and to explore the drivers of fragmentation and coherence. One of its six thematic research areas focuses on the interlinkages between energy, trade and climate change: http://www.nccr-trade.org/phase-3/wp5-1/