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Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Registrant Name dei_EntityRegistrantName GMO TRUST
Prospectus Date rr_ProspectusDate Mar. 27, 2017
GMO Climate Change Fund  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Risk/Return [Heading] rr_RiskReturnHeading
GMO Climate Change Fund
Objective [Heading] rr_ObjectiveHeading
Investment objective
Objective, Primary [Text Block] rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock
High total return.
Expense [Heading] rr_ExpenseHeading
Fees and expenses
Expense Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may bear for each class of shares if you buy and hold shares of the Fund.
Operating Expenses Caption [Text] rr_OperatingExpensesCaption

Annual Fund operating expenses

(expenses that you bear each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Portfolio Turnover [Heading] rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading
Portfolio turnover
Portfolio Turnover [Text Block] rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities. A higher portfolio turnover rate may result in higher transaction costs and, when Fund shares are held in a taxable account, higher taxes. These transaction costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. Because the Fund commenced operations on or following the date of this Prospectus, the Fund has no reportable portfolio turnover rate.
Expense Example [Heading] rr_ExpenseExampleHeading
Example
Expense Example Narrative [Text Block] rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated, regardless of whether or not you redeem your shares at the end of such periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same as those shown in the table. The one year amounts shown reflect the expense reimbursement and waiver noted in the expense table. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Strategy [Heading] rr_StrategyHeading
Principal investment strategies
Strategy Narrative [Text Block] rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock

GMO seeks to achieve the Fund’s investment objective by investing primarily in equities of companies GMO believes are positioned to directly or indirectly benefit from efforts to curb or mitigate the long-term effects of global climate change, to address the environmental challenges presented by global climate change, or to improve the efficiency of resource consumption. Due to the far-reaching effects and evolving innovation related to climate change, the Fund expects such companies to be involved in a wide array of businesses.

 

GMO selects the securities the Fund buys or sells based on its evaluation of companies’ published financial information and corporate behavior, securities’ prices, commodities’ prices, equity and bond markets, the overall global economy, and governmental policies.

 

In selecting securities for the Fund, GMO uses a combination of investment methods to identify securities that GMO believes have positive return potential. Some of these methods evaluate individual securities or groups of securities based on the ratio of their price to historical financial information and forecasted financial information, such as book value, cash flow and earnings, and a comparison of these ratios to industry or market averages or to their own history. Other methods focus on patterns of information, such as price movement or volatility of a security or groups of securities. The Fund may invest in securities of issuers of any market capitalization, including small capitalization companies. The Fund also may engage in merger arbitrage transactions. The Fund has no limit on the amount it may invest in any single asset class, sector, country, or region. At times, the Fund may have substantial exposure to a single industry, asset class, sector, country or region. The factors GMO considers and investment methods GMO uses can change over time. GMO does not manage the Fund to, or control the Fund’s risk relative to, any securities index or securities benchmark.

 

The Fund has a fundamental policy to concentrate its investments in climate change-related industries and, under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in companies involved in such industries (see “Name Policy”). The Fund considers “climate change-related industries” to include clean energy, batteries and storage, electric grid, energy efficiency, recycling and pollution control, agriculture, water, and businesses that service such industries. The Fund is permitted to invest directly and indirectly in equities of companies tied economically to any country in the world, including emerging countries. The term “equities” refers to direct and indirect investments in common and preferred stocks and other stock-related securities, such as convertible securities and depositary receipts and income trusts.

 

As an alternative to investing directly in equities, the Fund may invest in exchange-traded and over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The Fund also may invest in derivatives and ETFs in an attempt to obtain or adjust elements of its long or short investment exposure, and as a substitute for securities lending. Derivatives used may include futures, options, forward currency contracts and swap contracts. In addition, the Fund may lend its portfolio securities.

 

The Fund also may invest in GMO U.S. Treasury Fund (“U.S. Treasury Fund”), in money market funds unaffiliated with GMO, or directly in the types of investments typically held by money market funds.
Risk [Heading] rr_RiskHeading
Principal risks of investing in the Fund
Risk Narrative [Text Block] rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock

The value of the Fund’s shares changes with the value of the Fund’s investments. Many factors can affect this value, and you may lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund is a non-diversified investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and therefore a decline in the market price of a particular security held by the Fund may affect the Fund’s performance more than if the Fund were a diversified investment company. The principal risks of investing in the Fund are summarized below. For a more complete discussion of these risks, see “Description of Principal Risks.”

 

• Focused Investment Risk.   Because the Fund focuses its investments in securities of companies involved in climate change-related industries, the Fund will be more susceptible to events or factors affecting these companies and may be more volatile than other mutual funds that are more diversified. By focusing its investments in securities of companies involved in climate change-related industries, the Fund is particularly exposed to such factors as changes in global and regional climates, environmental protection regulatory actions, changes in government standards and subsidy levels, changes in taxation and other domestic and international political, regulatory and economic developments. Companies involved in alternative fuels may also be adversely affected by the increased use of, or decreases in prices for, oil or other fossil fuels. Scientific developments, such as breakthroughs in the remediation of global warming, or changing sentiments about the deleterious effects of pollution, may also affect practices with respect to pollution control, which could in turn impact these companies. Such companies may also be significantly affected by the level or pace of technological change in industries focusing on energy, pollution and environmental control. Because society’s focus on climate change issues is relatively new, there could be significant changes of emphasis and direction, and rapid technological change, rendering even new approaches and products obsolete. As a result of these and other factors, the values of investments in securities of companies involved in climate change-related industries tend to be considerably more volatile than those of companies in more established sectors and industries.

 

 

• Market Risk — Equities.   The market price of an equity may decline due to factors affecting the issuer, its industry or the economy and equity markets generally. If the Fund purchases an equity for less than its fundamental fair (or intrinsic) value as determined by GMO, the Fund runs the risk that the market price of the equity will not appreciate or will decline due to GMO’s incorrect assessment of the equity’s fundamental fair (or intrinsic) value. The Fund also may purchase equities that typically trade at higher multiples of current earnings than other securities, and the market prices of these equities often are more sensitive to changes in future earnings expectations than the market prices of equities trading at lower multiples. Declines in stock market prices generally are likely to reduce the net asset value of the Fund’s shares.

 

• Management and Operational Risk.   The Fund runs the risk that GMO’s investment techniques will fail to produce desired results. GMO often uses quantitative models as part of its investment process. GMO’s models are not necessarily predictive of future market events and use simplifying assumptions that can limit their effectiveness. In addition, the data on which the models are based is subject to limitations (e.g., inaccuracies, staleness) that could adversely affect the Fund’s performance. The Fund also runs the risk that GMO’s assessment of an investment (including a company’s fundamental fair (or intrinsic) value) may be wrong or that deficiencies in GMO’s or another service provider’s internal systems or controls will cause losses for the Fund or impair Fund operations.

 

• Non-U.S. Investment Risk.   The market prices of many non-U.S. securities fluctuate more than those of U.S. securities. Many non-U.S. securities markets are less stable, smaller, less liquid, and less regulated than U.S. securities markets, and the cost of trading in those markets often is higher than in U.S. securities markets. Transactions in non-U.S. securities generally involve higher commission rates, transfer taxes, and custodial costs than similar transactions in U.S. securities. In addition, the Fund may be subject to non-U.S. taxes, including potentially on a retroactive basis, on (i) capital gains it realizes or dividends, interest, or other amounts it realizes or accrues in respect of non-U.S. investments; (ii) transactions in those investments; and (iii) repatriation of proceeds generated from the sale or other disposition of those investments. Also, the Fund needs a license to invest directly in many non-U.S. securities markets, and the Fund is subject to the risk that it could not invest if its license were terminated or suspended. In some non-U.S. securities markets, prevailing custody and trade settlement practices (e.g., the requirement to pay for securities prior to receipt) expose the Fund to credit and other risks. Further, adverse changes in investment regulations, capital requirements or exchange controls could adversely affect the value of the Fund’s investments. These and other risks (e.g., nationalization, expropriation or other confiscation of assets of non-U.S. issuers) tend to be greater for investments in companies tied economically to emerging countries, the economies of which may be predominantly based on only a few industries or dependent on revenues from particular commodities and which often are more volatile than the economies of developed countries.

 

• Market Disruption and Geopolitical Risk.   Geopolitical and other events may disrupt securities markets and adversely affect global economies and markets. Those events, as well as other changes in non-U.S. and U.S. economic and political conditions, could adversely affect the value of the Fund’s investments.

 

• Commodities Risk.   Commodity prices can be extremely volatile, and exposure to commodities can cause the net asset value of the Fund’s shares to decline or fluctuate in a rapid and unpredictable manner.

 

• Currency Risk.   Fluctuations in exchange rates can adversely affect the market value of the Fund’s foreign currency holdings and investments denominated in foreign currencies.

 

• Illiquidity Risk.   Low trading volume, lack of a market maker, large position size or legal restrictions may limit or prevent the Fund from selling particular securities or closing derivative positions at desirable prices.

 

• Small Company Risk.   Smaller companies may have limited product lines, markets, or financial resources, may lack the competitive strength of larger companies, may have inexperienced managers or may depend on a few key employees. The securities of companies with smaller market capitalizations often are less widely held and trade less frequently and in lesser quantities, and their market prices often fluctuate more, than the securities of companies with larger market capitalizations.

 

• Derivatives and Short Sales Risk.   The use of derivatives involves the risk that their value may not change as expected relative to changes in the value of the underlying assets, rates, or indices. Derivatives also present other risks, including market risk, illiquidity risk, currency risk, and counterparty risk. The market price of an option is affected by many factors, including changes in the market prices or dividend rates of underlying securities (or in the case of indices, the securities in such indices); the time remaining before expiration; changes in interest rates or exchange rates; and changes in the actual or perceived volatility of the relevant stock market and underlying securities. The Fund may create short investment exposure by taking a derivative position in which the value of the derivative moves in the opposite direction from the price of an underlying investment, pool of investments, index or currency. The risks of loss associated with derivatives that provide short investment exposure and short sales of securities are theoretically unlimited.

 

• Counterparty Risk.   The Fund runs the risk that the counterparty to a derivatives contract, a clearing member used by the Fund to hold a cleared derivatives contract, or a borrower of the Fund’s securities will be unable or unwilling to make timely settlement payments, return the Fund’s margin, or otherwise honor its obligations.

 

• Leveraging Risk.   The use of reverse repurchase agreements and other derivatives and securities lending creates leverage. Leverage increases the Fund’s losses when the value of its investments (including derivatives) declines.

 

• Large Shareholder Risk.   To the extent that a large number of shares of the Fund is held by a single shareholder (e.g., an institutional investor or another GMO Fund) or a group of shareholders with a common investment strategy (e.g., GMO asset allocation accounts), the Fund is subject to the risk that a redemption by those shareholders of all or a large portion of their Fund shares will require the Fund to sell securities at disadvantageous prices or otherwise disrupt the Fund’s operations.

 

• Merger Arbitrage Risk.   If the Fund purchases securities in anticipation of a proposed merger, exchange offer, tender offer, or other similar transaction and that transaction later appears unlikely to be consummated or, in fact, is not consummated or is delayed, the market prices of the securities purchased by the Fund may decline sharply, resulting in losses to the Fund. The risk/reward payout of merger arbitrage strategies typically is asymmetric, as the losses in failed transactions often far exceed the gains in successful transactions. Merger arbitrage strategies are subject to the risk of overall market movements, and the Fund may experience losses even if a transaction is consummated.
Risk Lose Money [Text] rr_RiskLoseMoney
Many factors can affect this value, and you may lose money by investing in the Fund.
Risk Nondiversified Status [Text] rr_RiskNondiversifiedStatus
The Fund is a non-diversified investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and therefore a decline in the market price of a particular security held by the Fund may affect the Fund’s performance more than if the Fund were a diversified investment company.
Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading] rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading
Performance
Performance Narrative [Text Block] rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock
Because the Fund had not yet completed a full calendar year of operations as of the date of this Prospectus, performance information for the Fund is not included.
Performance One Year or Less [Text] rr_PerformanceOneYearOrLess
Because the Fund had not yet completed a full calendar year of operations as of the date of this Prospectus, performance information for the Fund is not included.
GMO Climate Change Fund | Class III  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Management fee rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.60% [1]
Shareholder service fee rr_DistributionOrSimilarNon12b1FeesOverAssets 0.15% [1]
Other expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.08% [2]
Total annual operating expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 0.83% [2]
Expense reimbursement/waiver rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.15%) [1],[2]
Total annual operating expenses after expense reimbursement/waiver rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 0.68% [2]
1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 69
3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 $ 250
GMO Climate Change Fund | Class IV  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Management fee rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.60% [1]
Shareholder service fee rr_DistributionOrSimilarNon12b1FeesOverAssets 0.10% [1]
Other expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.08% [2]
Total annual operating expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 0.78% [2]
Expense reimbursement/waiver rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.15%) [1],[2]
Total annual operating expenses after expense reimbursement/waiver rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 0.63% [2]
1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 64
3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 $ 234
GMO Climate Change Fund | Class V  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Management fee rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.60% [1]
Shareholder service fee rr_DistributionOrSimilarNon12b1FeesOverAssets 0.085% [1]
Other expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.08% [2]
Total annual operating expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 0.77% [2]
Expense reimbursement/waiver rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.15%) [1],[2]
Total annual operating expenses after expense reimbursement/waiver rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 0.62% [2]
1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 63
3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 $ 231
GMO Climate Change Fund | Class VI  
Risk/Return: rr_RiskReturnAbstract  
Management fee rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets 0.60% [1]
Shareholder service fee rr_DistributionOrSimilarNon12b1FeesOverAssets 0.055% [1]
Other expenses rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets 0.08% [2]
Total annual operating expenses rr_ExpensesOverAssets 0.74% [2]
Expense reimbursement/waiver rr_FeeWaiverOrReimbursementOverAssets (0.15%) [1],[2]
Total annual operating expenses after expense reimbursement/waiver rr_NetExpensesOverAssets 0.59% [2]
1 Year rr_ExpenseExampleYear01 $ 60
3 Years rr_ExpenseExampleYear03 $ 221
[1] Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co. LLC ("GMO") has contractually agreed to reimburse the Fund for the portion of its "Specified Operating Expenses" (as defined below) that exceeds 0.10% of the Fund's average daily net assets. "Specified Operating Expenses" means only the following expenses: audit expenses, fund accounting expenses, pricing service expenses, expenses of non-investment related tax services, transfer agency expenses, expenses of non-investment related legal services provided to the Fund by or at the direction of GMO, federal securities law filing expenses, printing expenses, state and federal registration fees and custody expenses. GMO is permitted to recover from the Fund "Specified Operating Expenses" it has borne (whether through reduction of its fees or otherwise) in later periods to the extent that the Fund's "Specified Operating Expenses" fall below the annualized rate of 0.10% per year or such lower expense limit in effect at the time GMO seeks to recover the expenses. The Fund, however, is not obligated to pay any such amount more than three years after GMO deferred a fee or reimbursed an expense. Any such recovery will not cause the Fund to exceed the annual limitation rate set forth above or such lower cap as may be in effect at the time of recoupment. GMO also has contractually agreed to waive or reduce the Fund's management fees and shareholder service fees to the extent necessary to offset the management fees and shareholder service fees paid to GMO that are directly or indirectly borne by the Fund or a class of shares of the Fund as a result of the Fund's direct or indirect investments in other series of GMO Trust ("GMO Funds"). Management fees and shareholder service fees will not be waived below zero. GMO has also contractually agreed to reduce its management fee by 0.15%. The reimbursement and waiver arrangements described above will remain in effect through June 30, 2018, and may not be terminated prior to such date without the action or consent of the Fund's Board of Trustees. GMO does not expect the 0.15% reduction of its management fee to continue beyond June 30, 2018.
[2] The amounts represent an annualized estimate of the Fund's operating expenses for its initial fiscal year.