Informalisation Within IO s Under Geopolitical Pressure? WTO Negotiations on Development, Environment and Inclusiveness

ABSTRACT This article examines whether and how the informalisation of negotiations within international organisations (IOs) affects the effectiveness of particular negotiation agendas. Moving beyond broad‐brush diagnoses of multilateral gridlock, it develops a differentiated account of how pockets of effectiveness can be maintained under conditions of intensifying geopolitical contestation. Studying the World Trade Organization (WTO), the article demonstrates how the process of informalisation within IOs can secure some degree of effectiveness on selected issues. Based on 42 interviews with diplomats, WTO officials and trade experts and official documentation of negotiation processes and outcomes, we trace negotiation dynamics across three agendas in the WTO: trade and environment, development and inclusiveness. We find that informal negotiation processes, often linked to deliberation and knowledge exchange, can offer pathways to effectiveness in terms of policy output when formal negotiation channels remain deadlocked. This is particularly evident in the negotiations on trade and environment. Informalisation thus offers one, but not the only, pathway to sustaining ‘selective effectiveness’ under geopolitical pressure. Yet, we also find limits, as policy output often remains non‐binding and informal processes may become contested. Our findings contribute to the existing literature on global governance by linking informalisation processes within IOs to debates on effectiveness.