scholarly journals The WTO and the Environment: Its Past Record is Better than Critics Believe, but the Future Outlook is Bleak

2004 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Neumayer
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Environmentally Friendly ◽  
Environmental Agreements ◽  
Multilateral Environmental Agreements ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Multilateral Trade ◽  
The Future ◽  
Better Than

This article argues that the WTO's past environmental record is much better than critics would have it. Its jurisprudence has become increasingly environmentally friendly and many charges against the dispute settlement process are based on misunderstandings. WTO rules have, so far at least, not deterred any multilateral environmental agreements. The lack of ambitious environmental protection measures is not the fault of the WTO, but the responsibility of policy-makers from its member states. At the same time, the WTO has done little to actually promote environmental protection and the treatment of the precautionary principle in WTO rules is highly unsatisfactory. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to change in the future. The reason for this is that there is not enough support among member countries, particularly those from the developing world, to render the multilateral trade regime more environmentally friendly. The challenge is to green WTO rules in a way that is beneficial and therefore acceptable to developing countries.

scholarly journals NAFTA 2.0: The Greenest Trade Agreement Ever?

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 659-677
Author(s):  
NOEMIE LAURENS ◽  
ZACHARY DOVE ◽  
JEAN FREDERIC MORIN ◽  
SIKINA JINNAH
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Environmental Agreements ◽  
Dispute Settlement Mechanism ◽  
Multilateral Environmental Agreements ◽  
The Core ◽  
The North ◽  
Settlement Mechanism

AbstractThe renegotiation of what US President Trump called ‘the worst trade deal ever’ has resulted in the most detailed environmental chapter in any trade agreement in history. The USMCA mentions dozens of environmental issues that its predecessor, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), overlooked, and in line with contemporary US practice, brings the vast majority of environmental provisions into the core of the agreement, and subjects these provisions to a sanction-based dispute settlement mechanism. It also jettisons two controversial NAFTA measures potentially harmful to the environment. However, this paper argues that the USMCA only makes limited contributions to environmental protection. It primarily replicates most of the environmental provisions included in recent agreements, and only introduces three unprecedented environmental provisions. Moreover, it avoids important issues such as climate change, it does not mention the precautionary principle, and it scales back some environmental provisions related to multilateral environmental agreements.

Untapping the potential of Preferential Trade Agreements to promote forest protection: A comparison on forest-related provisions and their enforcement in the US and EU PTAs

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 127-140
Author(s):  
Yilly Vanessa Pacheco
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Preferential Trade Agreements ◽  
Forest Governance ◽  
Environmental Agreements ◽  
Multilateral Environmental Agreements ◽  
Forest Protection ◽  
Preferential Trade ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Eu

The EU and the US are the actors with the highest number of environmental provisions in their Preferential Trade Agreements. Since 1999, specific rules on forest governance and Sustainable Forest Management have been incorporated in their PTAs. The implementation of such forest-related provisions in PTAs is mostly linked to cooperation among the Parties. However, in cases of noncompliance, PTAs provide for bilateral consultations, the application of the general dispute settlement mechanism, and even trade sanctions. The enforcement approaches differ in the US and the EU PTAs. This study focuses on the question of the potential of PTAs to contribute to forest governance and SFM and analyses the disputes that arose so far. It shows how forest issues may play a key role in negotiating and implementing PTAs, promoting compliance of Multilateral Environmental Agreements, and promoting public participation in environmental matters. The paper concludes that PTAs provide further options to develop and implement International Forest Law beyond the Multilateral Environmental Agreements.

Research on Green Design of Infant Clothing

2012 ◽  
Vol 538-541 ◽  
pp. 2834-2837
Author(s):  
Shu Cong Chen
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Environmentally Friendly ◽  
Development Trend ◽  
Green Design ◽  
Materials Modeling ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Development Trend

Health and environmental protection have become the development trend of the future infant clothing. The basic attribute of infant clothing has transformed from beauty, wearableness to safety, comfortableness and health. In this paper, the green concept in the design of infant clothing has been researched, and the green design of infant clothing is performed in the aspect of environmentally friendly materials, modeling and colors.

scholarly journals Stupsende Agrarpolitik? Nudging zu einernachhaltigen Landwirtschaft

2018 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-138
Author(s):  
Fabian Thomas ◽  
Ann-Kathrin Koessler ◽  
Stefanie Engel
Keyword(s):  
Energy Saving ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Agricultural Policy ◽  
Policy Instrument ◽  
Behavioral Changes ◽  
Health Prevention ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Individual Decisions ◽  
Wissenschaft Und Politik

Zusammenfassung: Das Konzept des Nudgings wird in Wissenschaft und Politik als Mittel diskutiert, um individuelle Entscheidungen zu steuern, ohne die vorhandenen Handlungsoptionen zu verändern. Studien und Pilotprojekte in den Bereichen Gesundheitsprävention, Energiesparen und Finanzen dokumentieren positive Verhaltensänderungen nach Einsatz dieses weichen und kosteneffizienten Politikinstrumentes. Dieser Beitrag diskutiert mögliche Anwendungsfelder des Nudgings in der Agrarpolitik, insbesondere im Kontext von Umweltschutzmaßnahmen und der Frage, wie eine umweltschonende Landwirtschaft stärker gefördert werden kann. Summary: Scientists and policy-makers are discussing the concept of nudging as a means to steer individual decisions without changing the choice options available. Studies and pilots in the areas of health prevention, energy saving and finance document positive behavioral changes after implementation of this soft and costefficient policy instrument. This article discusses possible fields of application in the domain of agricultural policy, especially in the context of environmental protection measures and the question of how to better support an environmentally friendly agriculture.

Part VII Inter-linkages with Other Regimes, Ch.43 Trade

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asselt Harro van
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
International Environmental Agreements ◽  
Environmental Agreements ◽  
Trade And Environment ◽  
Trade Restrictions ◽  
Multilateral Environmental Agreements ◽  
Trade Law ◽  
International Trade Law ◽  
Environmental Measures

This chapter reviews the interactions between international trade law and environmental protection. It begins by explaining how trade and environmental protection are physically interlinked, before offering an account of the evolution of the trade and environment debate. The chapter then examines the relationship between multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and trade, followed by an analysis of questions that have arisen in assessing the compatibility of environmental measures with trade law. International trade law may have a ‘chilling effect’ on the adoption or effective implementation of international environmental agreements. Conversely, environmental policies employing trade restrictions can become ‘green protectionism’ and even ‘eco-imperialism’. The chapter explores two emerging developments of relevance for the trade and environment debate, including the rise of regional trade agreements and the growing importance of climate change-related disputes. It concludes with a critical assessment of the prospects for strengthening coherence between international environmental and trade law.

Of Sense And Sensibility: Reflections On International Liability Regimes As Tools For Environmental Protection

2004 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 351-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jutta BrunnÉee
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Environmental Harm ◽  
Environmental Agreements ◽  
Multilateral Environmental Agreements ◽  
Good Investment ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
Lively Debate ◽  
International Liability ◽  
International Law Commission

There are several reasons, pertaining to both the development of a generallyapplicable framework and the elaboration of issue-specific approaches, why it is timely to reflect on whether liability regimes are an appropriate tool for international environmental protection. At the level of general norms, the International Law Commission (ILC) appears to have arrived at a crossroads, as it must decide whether and how to approach further work on liability for transboundary environmental harm. At the same time, discussions about issuespecific liability regimes have proliferated. Indeed, it seems that few multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) can be negotiated today without running across the liability issue in one way or another. The issue often divides Southern delegations, which tend to push for the inclusion of liability regimes, and Northerndelegations, which tend to resist. But the disagreement is not just a matter of policy and politics. There is also a lively debate in the literature about the pros and cons of international liability regimes. All the more reason, therefore, to assess whether engaging in the laborious task of developing a liability regime is a good investment of scarce negotiating resources. The goals that animate the quest for environmental liability are important ones: to make polluters pay for the environmental costs of their activities, to compensate innocent victims, to protect the environment, and, in certain contexts, to protect developing countries against environmental risks. The key question is whether, given these sensibilities, the approach makes sense.

scholarly journals Investor-State Dispute Settlement and the Future of the Precautionary Principle

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 449-486
Author(s):  
Haydn Davies
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Precautionary Principle ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
The Precautionary Principle ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Labour Standards ◽  
Neonicotinoid Pesticides

Abstract The proliferation of bilateral investment treaties and investment chapters in trade megatreaties and the associated increase in the preference of investors for investor-state dispute settlement has given rise to concerns that the regulatory sovereignty of both developed and developing states might be compromised. In response to these concerns many trade agreements (including the recently concluded Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement between the European Union (EU) and Canada) have incorporated provisions designed to protect the regulatory sovereignty of nation states, especially in relation to labour standards, public health, phytosanitary and environmental protection. This paper examines the nature and scope of environmental protection measures in investment chapters and attempts to analyse the extent to which these measures will, in practice, prevent challenges by investors seeking to chill or prevent environmental regulations which might threaten their investments. The analysis concentrates particularly on measures based on the precautionary principle and uses the current EU restrictions on neonicotinoid pesticides as a case study. The paper concludes that the measures included in investment chapters designed to prevent such challenges by investors will not necessarily achieve the desired level of protection for environmental regulatory sovereignty.

scholarly journals Back to the Future: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Trans-Pacific Partnership

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Rimmer
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
The United States ◽  
Pacific Rim ◽  
United States Government ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
The Future ◽  
Intermediary Liability ◽  
Safe Harbours

Journal Article: Matthew Rimmer, 'Back to the Future: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Trans-Pacific Partnership' (2017) 6 (3) Laws http://www.mdpi.com/2075-471X/6/3/11/htmThe Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a trade agreement, which seeks to regulate copyright law, intermediary liability, and technological protection measures. The United States Government under President Barack Obama sought to export key features of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act 1998 (US) (DMCA). Drawing upon the work of Joseph Stiglitz, this paper expresses concerns that the TPP would entrench DMCA measures into the laws of a dozen Pacific Rim countries. This study examines four key jurisdictions—the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand—participating in the TPP. This paper has three main parts. Part 2 focuses upon the takedown-and-notice scheme, safe harbours, and intermediary liability under the TPP. Elements of the safe harbours regime in the DMCA have been embedded into the international agreement. Part 3 examines technological protection measures—especially in light of a constitutional challenge to the DMCA. Part 4 looks briefly at electronic rights management. This paper concludes that the model of the DMCA is unsuitable for a template for copyright protection in the Pacific Rim in international trade agreements. It contends that our future copyright laws need to be responsive to new technological developments in the digital age—such as Big Data, cloud computing, search engines, and social media. There is also a need to resolve the complex interactions between intellectual property, electronic commerce, and investor-state dispute settlement in trade agreements.

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