Trade and environment
Trade and environment
Sustainable development and protection and preservation of the environment are fundamental goals of the WTO. They are enshrined in the Marrakesh Agreement, which established the WTO, and complement the WTO’s objective to reduce trade barriers and eliminate discriminatory treatment in international trade relations. While there is no specific agreement dealing with the environment, under WTO rules members can adopt trade-related measures aimed at protecting the environment provided a number of conditions to avoid the misuse of such measures for protectionist ends are fulfilled.
The WTO contributes to protection and preservation of the environment through its objective of trade openness, through its rules and enforcement mechanism, through work in different WTO bodies, and through ongoing efforts under the Doha Development Agenda. The Doha Agenda includes specific negotiations on trade and environment and some tasks assigned to the regular Trade and Environment Committee.
> See introduction to the trade and environment debate
See also:
> Negotiations,
implementation and development: the Doha agenda
> Hong
Kong Ministerial Declaration
> Fisheries
subsidies
News
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Trade and environment in the WTO
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Introduction
Through its goals, rules, institutions and forward-looking agenda, the WTO provides an important means of advancing international environmental goals.
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History
Trade and environment, as an issue, is by no means new. The link between trade and environmental protection — both the impact of environmental policies on trade, and the impact of trade on the environment — was recognized as early as 1970. Towards the end of the Uruguay Round (1986–1994), attention was once again drawn to trade-related environmental issues, and the role of the soon-to-be-created World Trade Organization.
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Work in the WTO
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Regular Trade and Environment Committee
The Trade and Environment Committee is the standing forum dedicated to dialogue between governments on the impact of trade policies on the environment, and of environment policies on trade. Created in 1995, the Committee has followed a comprehensive work programme.
Under the Doha Development Agenda, the regular committee is also looking at the
effects of environmental measures on market access, the intellectual property
agreement and biodiversity, and labelling for environmental purposes.
In
the Doha Round, WTO members are negotiating certain aspects of
the link between trade and the environment, particularly the
relationship between the WTO’s agreements and those of other
agencies, and market access for environmental goods and
services. These
talks take place in “Special Sessions” of the Trade and
Environment Committee.
Separately, eighteen participants representing 46 WTO members are negotiating an Environmental Goods Agreement
WTO rules and environmental policies back to top
Measures aimed at protecting the environment come in various shapes and forms. Under WTO rules, as confirmed by WTO jurisprudence, members can adopt trade-related measures aimed at protecting the environment, subject to certain specified conditions.
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Trade and environment topical issues
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Trade and Climate Change
The issue of climate change, per se, is not part of the WTO's ongoing work programme and there are no WTO rules specific to climate change. However, the WTO is relevant because climate change measures and policies intersect with international trade in a number of different ways.
- Trade and green economy
The WTO offers a powerful supporting framework for sustainable development and green economy. It provides an enabling environment through its objectives, institutions and monitoring of potential trade protectionism, enforcement mechanism, toolbox of rules, and growing case law in the environment area.
- Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 goals and 169 targets that members of the United Nations have endorsed as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
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Technical assistance
WTO technical assistance on trade and the environment aims to help developing countries participate more effectively in the work of the Trade and Environment Committee and in the negotiations.
Recent events
- The Green Transition: a driver to expand trade opportunities?, 4 February 2019
Past events
- Leadership Dialogue: Making Trade Work for the Environment, Prosperity and Resilience, 2 October 2018
- World Environment Day 2017: Talking Trade and Trash - An Informal Trade and Environment Division Chat, 7 June 2017
- Advanced Course on Trade and Environment: Unlocking Trade for Clean Energy Technologies, 29 June 2016
- 2016 Advanced Course on Trade and Environment , 27 June - 8 July 2016
- 20 years of building pathways to sustainable development, 28 avril 2015
- 2014 Advanced Course on Trade and Environment, 24 March — 4 April 2014
- Workshop on Environmental Technology Dissemination , 12 November 2012
- The Outcomes of Rio+20: An Informal Dialogue Among Stakeholders, 12 September 2012

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