The Relationship between Trade-Related Environmental Measures in Multilateral Environmental Agreements and the WTO Law

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lidia Rieder
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Agreements ◽  
Multilateral Environmental Agreements ◽  
Environmental Measures ◽  
The Relationship

Im 20. Jahrhundert wurden einige der aufkommenden Umweltvereinbarungen so gestaltet, dass sie starke wirtschaftliche Anreize bieten. Gleichzeitig fanden Umweltverpflichtungen ihren Weg in Handelsabkommen. Daraus ergaben sich Konflikte zwischen handelsbeschränkenden Umweltmaßnahmen und GATT / WTO-Normen zum Schutz des freien Marktes. Zudem löste die aufkommende Umweltkrise eine Debatte über die Einbeziehung von Umweltwerten auf der WTO-Ebene aus. Die Themen waren jahrzehntelang Gegenstand von Diskussionen im GATT / WTO. Unterdessen haben regionale Handelsvereinbarungen eine Plattform für die Vereinbarung von Umweltverpflichtungen mit dem Freihandel vorbereitet. Diese Vereinbarungen werden als Rechtsinstrumente auf ihre Eignung geprüft, konkurrierende Handels- und Umweltwerte in Einklang zu bringen.

scholarly journals Trade and Environment: A Mutually Supportive Interpretation of WTO Agreements in Light of Multilateral Environmental Agreements

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Laura Stuart
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Environmental Agreements ◽  
Trade And Environment ◽  
Multilateral Environmental Agreements ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Wto Agreements

<p>This paper considers how the WTO can make better use of the principle of “mutual supportiveness” as an interpretative tool. It examines the success of the WTO in enhancing the relationship between trade and environment and between the WTO agreements and Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs); compares the different interpretative approaches in the United States – Shrimp and EC –Biotech; and argues that a mutually supportive approach that allows consideration of MEAs that are not binding on WTO parties does not change the rights and obligations of WTO members.</p>

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.

The ‘Global Pact for the Environment’ – A New Instrument to Protect the Planet?

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasmin Raith
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Law ◽  
Environmental Agreements ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
Multilateral Environmental Agreements ◽  
Legal Questions ◽  
New Instrument ◽  
Sound Environment ◽  
The Right ◽  
Global Agenda ◽  
The Relationship

This article aims to shed light on the newly proposed initiative to negotiate a ‘Global Pact for the Environment’. After an overview of the Pact, the article discusses the main provisions of the current draft of the Pact, such as the right to live in an ecologically sound environment, the codification of existing environmental principles and the introduction of new principles. The article examines the relationship between the Pact and existing multilateral environmental agreements and institutions and comes to the conclusion that the stated intention for the Pact to serve as a ‘legal umbrella’ for the existing multilateral environmental treaties raises both political as well as legal questions. Furthermore, the Pact possesses only limited potential to strengthen international environmental law. Nonetheless, the initiative has the potential to trigger reforms in international environmental law by putting the protection of the environment at the top of the global agenda.

scholarly journals Trade and Environment: A Mutually Supportive Interpretation of WTO Agreements in Light of Multilateral Environmental Agreements

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Laura Stuart
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Environmental Agreements ◽  
Trade And Environment ◽  
Multilateral Environmental Agreements ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Wto Agreements

<p>This paper considers how the WTO can make better use of the principle of “mutual supportiveness” as an interpretative tool. It examines the success of the WTO in enhancing the relationship between trade and environment and between the WTO agreements and Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs); compares the different interpretative approaches in the United States – Shrimp and EC –Biotech; and argues that a mutually supportive approach that allows consideration of MEAs that are not binding on WTO parties does not change the rights and obligations of WTO members.</p>

Part VIII Compliance, Implementation, and Effectiveness, Ch.56 Non-Compliance Procedures

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doelle Meinhard
Keyword(s):  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Environmental Agreements ◽  
Multilateral Environmental Agreements ◽  
International Treaty ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
Primary Rule ◽  
Rule System ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

This chapter reflects on non-compliance procedures, which have emerged in multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) as they have in other areas of international law. While the focus of international treaty negotiation may, at one point, have been the substantive issues, the scope has, over time, shifted to include efforts to ensure the effective implementation of the substantive commitments and obligations negotiated. Along with other elements, such as dispute settlement procedures, education, and capacity-building, non-compliance procedures have become a key element of the overall effort to ensure the effective implementation of MEAs. The chapter considers the role of compliance systems in MEAs, with a brief survey of the debate over the respective role of facilitation and enforcement, followed by an exploration of the relationship between the primary rule system and elements of the compliance system. It then looks at the key elements of compliance systems before studying a selection of MEA compliance systems.

scholarly journals Eco-Efficiency and Human Capital Efficiency: Example of Small- and Medium-Sized Family Farms in Selected European Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6846
Author(s):  
Jan Polcyn
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Efficiency Index ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Family Farms ◽  
Work Hour ◽  
Capital Efficiency ◽  
Environmental Measures ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Economic Measure

Small- and medium-sized family farms are places to live and sources of income for about half of the population. The aim of this analysis was to determine the relationship between eco-efficiency and human capital efficiency on small- and medium-sized family farms. The analysis was carried out using an economic measure (value of agricultural production per work hour calculated per hectare) and two synthetic measures (human capital and environmental measures). The synthetic measures were determined using the TOPSIS-CRITIC method by defining weights for variables used in the measures. The analysis covered five countries: Lithuania (960 farms), Moldavia (532 farms), Poland (696 farms), Romania (872 farms) and Serbia (524 farms). All of these countries are characterised by a high fragmentation of agricultural holdings. The analysis allowed us to formulate the following conclusions: eco-efficiency and human capital efficiency indices increased with area for small- and medium-sized family farms. An increase in the eco-efficiency index with an increase in farm area suggests that the smaller the farm area, the more extensive the agricultural production that was carried out. In addition, an increase in human capital efficiency with an increase in farm area indicates that there was inefficiency in the utilisation of human capital resources on the agricultural farms studied.

International Trade and Protection of the Environment: The Continuing Search for Reconciliation

1997 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 268-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Schoenbaum
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
International Trade ◽  
Dispute Resolution ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Other ◽  
Mutual Understanding ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Environmental Measures ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
The Relationship

Before 1991, the relationship between the protection of the environment and international trade was an arcane specialty that attracted little attention. In 1971 the GATT Council established a Working Group on Environmental Measures and International Trade. This group did not even meet for over twenty years.Everything changed with the decision in the Tuna/Dolphin I case, in which a GATT dispute resolution panel declared a United States embargo on tuna caught by fishing methods causing high dolphin mortality to be illegal. The Tuna/Dolphin I decision produced an explosion of rhetoric in both learned journals and the popular press. It was also a very interesting clash of very different “cultures,” trade specialists versus environmentalists. At die outset, neither group knew much about the other. Now, however, the legal and political issues have been identified and ventilated, mutual understanding has increased, and the process has begun to reconcile two values that are absolutely essential to the well-being of mankind: protection of the environment and international free trade.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document