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Using Trade Agreements to Achieve Sustainability: A Counter-Intuitive Conundrum
Abstract
There is no question that climate change is one of the biggest challenges humanity faces today. Today, 80% of the global energy supply comes from fossil fuels. Fossil fuels contribute to climate change and are finite, which leads to energy insecurity. We cannot use all the fossil reserves we have without seriously disrupting the climate system. Renewable energy can help here in that it is cleaner than fossil fuels. It also helps towards energy independence and therefore enhances energy security. Renewable energy sources are the only long-term energy supply solution we have at present. Trade law could be used as a vehicle to achieve these goals because trade rules can promote environmental goods and services.
This chapter presents four possible scenarios for Africa’s net-zero energy transition in the era of decarbonization. The window of opportunity for Africa to achieve a net-zero future is closing, and the pathways to a decarbonized economy by 2050 are narrowing globally. It is unclear how much of the burden African countries will bear and how they can benefit from an increasingly decarbonized world. Due to a lack of resources, limited access to technology, subpar governance, political unpredictability, and the need for sizable capital investments, African nations may run the risk of falling behind in the global energy transition. Through technical assistance, capacity building, and financial resources, global partners must help African countries develop and deploy environmentally friendly energy sources. The four potential scenarios for an African net-zero energy transition are aided and harsher scenarios; collaboration and a calculated transition; unaided and self-sufficient in exports; and a tangled and trapped transition. The transition to net-zero energy in Africa requires significant capital investment and global partnerships for technical assistance, capacity building, and access to finance. There are four potential scenarios: aided and harsher, collaboration and calculated transition, unaided and self-sufficient exports, and trapped transitions. Each scenario presents challenges and opportunities, and a successful transition requires careful planning, collaboration, and sustained investment from African countries and their global partners.
This chapter examines how TBT cooperation in free trade agreements fits into the debate on regionalism and multilateralism. To do this, it firstly provides a theoretical underpinning of the analysis by reviewing the historical account on the issue and studying the classic theory of regionalism. Further, it reviews how TBT in free trade agreements could fit into this paradigm. This is supplemented by a legal analysis of some of the TBT cooperation methods, such as harmonization and mutual recognition, in terms of their consistency with respective WTO disciplines. This chapter also explores another facet of the discussion on regionalism and multilateralism: whether TBT cooperation in free trade agreements might be further multilateralized and which institutional instruments and procedures at the WTO could serve this process in order to achieve “outcome multilateralism”—the first best option.
This book explores links and synergies between international trade and two of the most urgent challenges of the 21st century: achieving sustainable energy (i.e., energy that is affordable, secure, and clean) and mitigating climate change. It takes the unique approach of not only examining how international trade can help achieve energy and climate goals, but also the impact of emerging tools and technologies such as smart grids and demand response, and the potential role and impact of citizens and prosumers. The book analyzes energy- and trade-related regulations in a range of jurisdictions to assess how conducive the regulation is towards achieving sustainable energy, and identifies gaps and overlaps in the existing legal framework.
This chapter provides an analysis on the links of climate change, energy, and international trade, specifically from the perspective of the EU’s external relations. The chapter first analyzes the links between these three sectors (climate change, energy, and trade). It then examines the environmental language in EU free-trade agreements. Finally, and before the conclusions, it looks at obstacles that explain the lack of coordination between environmental and trade agreements.
This chapter argues that the Kyoto Protocol to the 1992 Framework Convention on Climate Change was doomed to face difficulties ab initio and tries to draw lessons from the international trading system’s architecture for climate change mitigation negotiations. The UNFCCC has traditionally divided the world into developed countries (including countries undergoing the process of transition to a market economy) and developing countries. It places the responsibility of reducing emissions with developed countries as if they were the only sinners of climate change. A better (and arguably fairer) way to tackle the climate change issue today is by bringing together the major GHG emitters, irrespective of their GDP. Why so? Because seen retrospectively, rich-countries have been (and continue to be) the major polluters; they are responsible for most of the GHG emissions, and have the financial and technological means to tackle climate change. However, seen prospectively, it is a developing countries problem, as predictions indicate that, in the near future, developing countries will be the major polluters as well as the major victims of the consequences of climate change, especially countries near the equator. The longer we wait, the harder and more expensive it will become to deal with climate change. So the major GHG emitters (whether developed or developing countries), which are responsible for historic, current and future emissions, should, therefore, be the ones to take action.The chapter concludes that no breakthroughs will take place regarding climate change mitigation until there is more political maturity on the side of the U.S. and until rapidly emerging economies indicate that they are ready to play their part.
The Paris Agreement has opened debate on whether limiting warming to 1.5 °C is compatible with current emission pledges and warming of about 0.9 °C from the mid-nineteenth century to the present decade. We show that limiting cumulative post-2015 CO2 emissions to about 200 GtC would limit post-2015 warming to less than 0.6 °C in 66% of Earth system model members of the CMIP5 ensemble with no mitigation of other climate drivers, increasing to 240 GtC with ambitious non-CO2 mitigation. We combine a simple climate–carbon-cycle model with estimated ranges for key climate system properties from the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. Assuming emissions peak and decline to below current levels by 2030, and continue thereafter on a much steeper decline, which would be historically unprecedented but consistent with a standard ambitious mitigation scenario (RCP2.6), results in a likely range of peak warming of 1.2–2.0 °C above the mid-nineteenth century. If CO2 emissions are continuously adjusted over time to limit 2100 warming to 1.5 °C, with ambitious non-CO2 mitigation, net future cumulative CO2 emissions are unlikely to prove less than 250 GtC and unlikely greater than 540 GtC. Hence, limiting warming to 1.5 °C is not yet a geophysical impossibility, but is likely to require delivery on strengthened pledges for 2030 followed by challengingly deep and rapid mitigation. Strengthening near-term emissions reductions would hedge against a high climate response or subsequent reduction rates proving economically, technically or politically unfeasible.
This article analyzes the conceptual links between sustainability, common concern and public goods. It examines the mega-trends of the 21st century in the context of sustainability. By doing so, it brings forward the novel idea of how greater participation of citizens can be very promising in helping achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The article also examines incentives for regional and global cooperation on decarbonizing the economy. It does so by proposing the novel idea of using mega-regional trade agreements (RTAs) to mitigate climate change and enhance sustainable energy. It proposes the argument that only a few major greenhouse gas emitters and just three mega-RTAs can make a great contribution towards climate change mitigation and the enhancement of sustainable energy. The article then explores sustainability in the context of innovation, research, technology and spirituality. The article concludes with the expression that there is a knowledge gap on the links between four major global concerns: trade, energy, climate change, and sustainability. With the threat of climate change looming, and energy increasingly important to all aspects of human and economic development, learning more about these links is extremely timely.
Countries were involved in regional trade agreements (RTAs) long before the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was established in 1947. In recent years, however, RTAs have proliferated, particularly in Africa. In this article, we examine the various reasons why African countries have chosen to engage in these agreements, particularly in light of the fact that they do not seem to be ‘trade creating’ in nature. As Jacob Viner made it popular in the 1950s, not all trade agreements lead to higher economic welfare for the nations engaging in them. In the case of African countries where there is a limited degree of variation in the goods that are produced, and infrastructure and trading systems are designed for intercontinental rather than intra-continental trade, RTAs may not necessarily lead to greater welfare. Our examination of RTAs does not yield a strong positive result that they are welfare-enhancing exercises. A greater care needs to be taken for future RTAs.
With the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the entry into force of the Paris Climate Agreement, the international community has inter alia pledged their commitment to economic development that is consistent with environmental sustainability. This paper focuses on the linkage between economic and environmental governance by tracking environmental provisions in preferential trade agreements (PTAs). While the United States and the European Union are frequently seen as innovators of “green” content in PTAs, systematic research on the role of emerging markets in promoting this development is scarce. For this reason, we develop an original, detailed dataset mapping the environmental content in 48 PTAs signed by the emerging markets China, India, Indonesia, Brazil and Mexico. Our findings clearly indicate a trend towards more environmental content in those countries’ PTAs over time. At the same time, the data hint at patterns that suggest that these developments may at least be partly driven by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. The paper contributes to the literature on the design of PTAs, the linkage between trade and environment, as well as the role of emerging markets in global governance.
The aim of this article is to map out the governance of renewable energy and argues that effective renewable energy governance at the international and European level has become a major challenge of public international law and European Union (EU) law. The article first analyzes renewable energy governance in the context of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. It then examines the various international energy bodies that deal with the governance of renewables and deals with renewables in specific sectors of international/supranational law and policy, namely the sustainable development goals and multilateral development banks in the context of economic development, the G7 and the G20, international trade and, lastly, the European Union’s renewables legislation and policies, as examples of the most committed region in the world to renewable energy. This article concludes with a number of questions for further legal research resulting from the broad array of activity concerning renewables in EU law, international law, and international organizations.
Energy security is a burning issue in a world where 1.4 billion people still have no access to electricity. This pioneering book is about finding solutions for energy security through the international trading system.
Focusing mainly on the European Union (EU) as a case study, this holistic and comprehensive analysis of the existing legal and geopolitical instruments strives to identify the shortcomings of the international and EU energy trade governance systems, concluding with the notion of a European Energy Union and what the EU is politically prepared to accept as part of its unified energy security.
This snapshot of multilateral, regional and bilateral energy trade governance deals with energy transit from the perspective of the Energy Charter Treaty as a means to enhance EU energy security, and examines the system of law and governance of international trade in unconventional fossil fuels. The authors analyze concerns that arise from preferential trade agreements and renewable energy from the EU’s perspective, and explain how the EU can diversify its energy supply to improve its energy security.
The limited success of the UNFCCC negotiations has enticed scholars, environmentalists, and policymakers alike to propose alternative approaches to climate cooperation. This article reviews the scholarly literature concerning one such proposed alternative — climate clubs. According to the club approach, it would be promising to start with small groups of “enthusiastic” countries. These countries would outline what they are willing and able to do, conditional on what other enthusiastic countries offer and implement. Moreover, these enthusiastic countries would try to entice “reluctant” countries to join via “exclusive and contingent” measures. Focusing on the conditions for a climate club to effectively reduce global emissions, we organize our review around four main questions: first, what is a climate club’s potential for providing benefits that accrue exclusively to club members? Second, how might leadership influence a climate club’s ability to eventually become effective? Third, what insights can the formal modelling literature offer concerning the effectiveness of climate clubs? Finally, which is the empirical record of existing climate clubs? We conclude by providing several suggestions for future research.
Economic globalization and respect for human rights are both highly topical issues. In theory, more trade should increase economic welfare and protection of human rights should ensure individual dignity. However tension has arisen between these two areas. Does the World Trade Organization prevent countries from providing essential medicines to their people? Is it fair to accord the benefits of trade subject to a clean human rights record? This book examines the theoretical framework of the interaction between the disciplines of international trade law and human rights. The interaction is explored through seven case studies, ranging from freedom of expression and anti-trust rules, to the fight against trade in conflict diamonds and the United Nations' convention on tobacco control.
Energy security, or the access to energy at an affordable price, is one of the main problems that humanity faces today and the European Union (EU) has to rely on energy-rich countries for its energy needs. This paper offers four ways in which the EU may enhance its energy security through the international trading system.
First, since the regulation of energy in international law is fragmented and largely incoherent, it is essential to understand the overall trade in energy system and determine its net effect in terms of EU energy security.
Second, all forms of energy should be subject to the same rules. Energy may become part of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agenda in the near future. Given that current WTO rules are far from addressing all the needs of energy trade today, is it necessary to have a WTO Agreement on trade in energy? If so, can and should the Energy Charter Treaty be used as a model? Moreover, now that Russia has joined the WTO and that energy is one of its greatest assets in economic terms, would this be the right time to include energy trade as part of the WTO Agreements? Those energy-rich Middle Eastern countries that are not yet WTO Members but wish to become WTO Members will most likely follow Russia. These Middle Eastern countries should prioritize the conclusion of negotiations to enter the WTO in order to integrate fully into the global trading system and protect their growing interests on world markets. WTO membership will certainly help eliminate any discrimination against them in their trade.
Third, since the EU is energy-dependent, it is necessary to propose models for enhanced governance of energy trade to promote energy security. The aim is to find ways so that this can be encouraged normatively. The expansion of the Energy Charter’s membership to countries in the Middle East and North Africa and to the Economic Community of West African States may be an avenue to enhance EU energy security through the creation of an infrastructure that will enhance international, long-distance trade in energy.
Fourth, the aim of the international community is to decarbonize the economy. With renewables, international trade in energy is likely to increase. In turn, the trading system can be a major vehicle towards moving away from fossil fuels to renewable energy. To this end, it can provide fair competition, economies of scale and knowledge transfer. Very little research has been conducted on the impact of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) in addressing climate change mitigation and energy security. It is thus worth exploring the potential of incorporating chapters addressing climate change mitigation and promoting renewable energy within PTAs, for which the EU could make use of its vast network of PTAs. There could well be tangible ways in which the EU can, through its network of PTAs, move towards greater energy independence as renewable energy becomes increasingly economically viable.
A major aim of the international community is to decarbonize the economy. With renewables, international trade in energy is likely to increase. In turn, the international trading system can be a major vehicle towards moving away from fossil fuels to renewable energy. To this end, it can provide fair competition, economies of scale and knowledge transfer. This article analyzes the impact of European Union (EU) preferential trade agreements (PTAs) in addressing climate change mitigation and energy security by promoting renewables. Currently, there is a proliferation of PTAs; this trend seems irreversible and is likely to persist, given the current crisis in the multilateral trading system. We argue that the EU can, through its network of PTAs, move towards greater energy independence as renewable energy becomes increasingly economically viable. This article provides a thorough review of the renewable energy-related provisions in the EU’s current PTAs and recommends three tangible ways through which the EU could capitalize its vast network of PTAs to boost the renewable energy market.
Notwithstanding International Economic Law's (IEL's) inevitable distributional effects, IEL scholarship has had limited engagement with theoretical work on global distributive justice and fairness. In part this reflects the failure of global justice theorists to derive principles that can be readily applied to the concrete problems of IEL. This article bridges this gap, drawing on existing coercion-based accounts of global justice in political theory to propose a novel account of global distributive justice that both resolves problems within the existing theoretical literature and can be directly applied to both explain and critique concrete issues in IEL, including in particular WTO law. By complementing existing coercion-based accounts with a more nuanced typology of international coercion, it distinguishes two morally salient classes of economically relevant measures: External Trade Measures (ETMs), which pursue their goals specifically through the regulation of international economic activity; and Domestic Economic Measures (DEMs), which do not. The distinctive intentional relationship between ETMs and the outsiders they affect means such measures require more stringent justification, in terms of global equality or other goals those outsiders themselves share; whereas DEMs can be justified under the principle of self-determination. Non-Product Related Production Processes and Methods (NPRPPMs) provide a case study to show how this framework can illuminate recurring problems in IEL.
The legal aspects at the junction of interstate energy cooperation have become increasingly important in a world that is hungry for energy security. This book focuses on selected legal issues relating to international energy governance. International law as it stands today is not well equipped to handle international energy governance issues fully. This legal deficiency affects energy security negatively. If the currently fragmented and multi-layered international energy governance regime were streamlined for greater legal cohesiveness and international political and economic cooperation, it would promote energy security. Some chapters of the book take a broader view on interstate energy cooperation, such as energy transit, energy market liberalization and energy investment. Others focus on specific areas of such cooperation, such as trade and energy; trade, environment and energy; and energy exploration and maritime delimitation disputes. The book also presents an analysis of EU energy governance and renewable energy.
This work, originally published in 1817, is one of the founding texts of modern economics. Enormously successful as a stockbroker, David Ricardo (1772–1823) was able to lead the life of a wealthy country squire, while his intellectual interests caused him to move in the circles of Thomas Malthus and James Mill. It was at Mill's urging that Ricardo published this book, entered Parliament in 1819 (as an independent member for a rotten Irish borough) and worked for financial and parliamentary reform. Ricardo argues in this work that Adam Smith was mistaken in his understanding of the economic significance of rent, and also demonstrates the mutual benefit of free trade between countries, as against protectionism. The book's findings and conclusions have been controversial since its publication, but led John Stuart Mill to judge Ricardo 'the greatest political economist'.
What does justice demand in international trade regulation? And how far does World Trade Organization (WTO) law respond to those demands? Whether our focus is developing countries, struggling industries, or environmental protection, distributive conflict is a pervasive feature of international economic law. Despite this, we lack an adequate theory of distributive justice for this domain. Drawing on philosophical approaches to global justice, this book advances a novel theory of justice in trade regulation, and applies this to explain and critique the law of the WTO. Integrating theoretical and doctrinal approaches, it demonstrates the potential for political theory to illuminate and inform the progressive development of WTO law, including rules on border measures, discrimination, trade remedies and domestic regulation. Written from an interdisciplinary perspective, accessible to lawyers, philosophers and political scientists, the book will appeal both to theorists interested in building bridges from theory to practice, and practitioners seeking new perspectives on existing problems. Provides a new approach to global economic justice which addresses problems of legal and political practice, useful to those concerned with the practical implications of global justice Presents an account of distributive justice that is specific to the practical problems of international trade regulation, beneficial to theorists and practitioners seeking new perspectives on existing problems Offers a comprehensive critique of existing philosophical, economic and political economy theories in their application to trade law, whilst providing an introduction and overview of the literature Analyses recurring doctrinal problems in key areas of the WTO goods regime, presenting both a theoretical and doctrinal approach useful for legal scholars
The United States (US) and the European Union (EU) include several environmental clauses in their respective preferential trade agreements (PTAs). Building on an exhaustive and fine-grained dataset of PTAs environmental clauses, this article makes two contributions. First, it show that the US and the EU have initially favored different approaches to environmental protection in their PTAs. US concerns over regulatory sovereignty and level playing field have conducted to a legalistic and adversarial approach, while EU concerns for policy coherence have led to a more procedural and cooperative approach. Second, this article provides evidence that European and American trade negotiators have gradually converged on a shared set of environmental norms. Although the US and the EU initially pursued different objectives, they learned from each other and drew similar lessons. As a result, recent American agreements have become more European-like, and European agreements have become more Americanized. This article concludes that US and EU approaches, far from being incompatible, can usefully be combined and reinforce each other.
Climate change gives rise to disputes and problems not easily addressed by existing legal doctrines and frameworks. This is because it is a polycentric problem; the assessment of future climate impacts must deal with uncertainty; climate change is socio-politically controversial; and addressing climate change requires recognising a dynamic physical environment. As such, climate change can be thought of as legally disruptive in that it requires lawyers and legal scholars to reconcile the legal issues raised by climate change with existing legal orders. The legal disruption catalysed by climate change has not only led to the creation of new legal regimes but also given rise to a multitude of legal disputes that require adjudication. A study of some of these cases highlights the need for active and deliberate reflection about the nature of adjudication and the legal reasoning embedded in it when confronted by a disruptive phenomenon like climate change.
Environmental degradation occurs due to a variety of reasons, including processes that are entirely inherent to nature.1 However, in recent history, the rate of environmental degradation has been ostensibly more rapid than during the previous millennia of organized human society.2 What is more, we are fast approaching the tipping point after which environmental degradation may become irreversible.3 This excessiveness in ‘climate change’ has largely been anthropogenic in that it flows from the effects of human habitation. Moreover, environmental degradation operates dynamically in that the anthropogenic effects on the environment may themselves cause or contribute to further environmental degradation. To illustrate this point, let us take the example of greenhouse gases (GHGs), which are almost entirely human caused. The concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere not only degrades the content of the atmosphere, but also reproduces the ‘greenhouse effect,’ thus trapping a significant part of energy and heat that the earth, having previously absorbed these from the sun, subsequently reflects back into space. The effect of this phenomenon is the rise of the temperature of the earth that, in turn, has far-reaching consequences - including desertification and the melting of frozen parts of polar water-bodies and territories - for the natural landscape and the human, animal, and plant populations sustained by the ecosystem. In light of the above, it is unsurprising that climate change is a concern to many a state and an inter-state actor. What may to some be more surprising, though not entirely bemusing, are the underwhelming efforts on the part of the international ‘community’ to meaningfully address climate change. While a gathering - for lack of a better word - of state actors indeed exists, in our view, this does not possess the characteristics of a community with paritous interests. References to an international community often disguise the fact that what we are dealing with is, essentially, a collection of sovereign entities that, while formally enjoying the legal equality flowing from their sovereign status, in reality, are as highly disparate among themselves as their interests.
As the impacts of a warming climate system become more apparent and countries across the globe begin to implement mitigation and adaptation measures, the issue of climate change has increasingly arisen in litigation. While there has been substantial literature examining how the issue of climate change has manifested in U.S. courts, this article is the first large-scale assessment of climate change litigation outside the United States. Based on an empirical study of all reported non-U.S. litigation, this article discusses what types of claims have arisen; how climate litigation varies by jurisdiction; who the key players are; and what their primary goals are. Drawing upon these findings, this article assesses how courts have dealt with the issue of climate change and the role litigation is playing in the formation of climate change policy.
This comprehensive assessment reveals that climate change litigation is almost entirely concentrated in five jurisdictions: Australia, New Zealand, the European Union, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The nature of these suits varies widely across jurisdictions, reflecting each jurisdiction’s unique legislative and regulatory framework, energy portfolio, and legal system. Generally, however, non-U.S. climate change cases have mostly been tactical suits aimed at specific projects or details regarding implementation of existing climate policies, especially emissions trading systems. In examining climate change jurisprudence, this article finds that the courts accept the scientific consensus surrounding climate change and tend to treat climate change much like any other environmental issue.
This examination of the role of litigation in addressing the problem of climate change focuses not onlyon how the massive and growing number of lawsuits influences regulation directly, but also on how the lawsuits shape corporate behaviour and public opinion. It provides readers with an understanding of how these lawsuits have shaped approaches to mitigation and adaptation, and have been used to try to force and to block regulation. There is a particular emphasis on lawsuits in the United States and Australia, the two jurisdictions which have had the most climate change litigation in the world, and the lessons provide broader insights into the role of courts in addressing climate change.
A number of documents consider integration as pivotal to the achievement of sustainable development. However, there remains an obscurity as to precisely what integration entails or, more specifically, the range of means by which integration can be achieved. This paper suggests dividing integration under three headings referred to as systemic, institutional and legal integration. This division is designed to lead to a better understanding as to what is required to make sustainable development more of a reality.
What is ‘climate change liability’? 3.01By its nature, climate change gives rise to myriad potential forms of liability. It is global in geographic terms. Arguments rage about its extent, causes and effects. It potentially affects nearly everyone, and may do so for tens or hundreds of years. It requires addressing at State, regional and individual levels. All feasible responses are complex and costly. It is hard to conceive of a more effective recipe for spawning liabilities of all kinds. 3.02What do we mean in this book, by ‘climate change liability’? The concept of legal liability is well understood. Liability is not usually an absolute, intransitive concept. Liability is usually ‘to’ or ‘in respect of’ another person, so whenever a liability is under discussion one must also consider the corresponding rights. In this book, in one sense we focus on ‘liability’ as something narrower than any obligation arising as a matter of law or legal principle. This book is not about liability arising under treaties or public international law, neither is it concerned with contractual obligations, such as those that might arise under emissions trading schemes or clean development mechanism projects under the Kyoto Protocol. We do however use ‘liability’ in a broader sense than litigation, and also consider ‘liability’ which may fall short of enforceable legal liability. It includes liability to do something or refrain from doing it, as well as liability for compensation. We have sought to focus on liabilities arising from or directly related to climate change and its effects, and not from all activities which may themselves have an impact on, or be impacted by, climate change. This is not a book on environmental law more generally.
Introduction A core feature of regional trade agreements (RTAs) is that they offer, or are supposed to offer, WTO-plus liberalization. The question that this book examines is how these WTO-plus elements could be ‘multilateralized’. To give teeth to WTO-plus benefits in RTAs, most RTAs include regional dispute settlement. This chapter analyses how these regional dispute settlement systems, and the legal disciplines they enforce, interact with multilateral dispute settlement at the WTO. Failure to give effect to regional dispute settlement may endanger WTO-plus liberalization; finding a legal balance and mutual support between RTAs and the WTO can be one of the ways to ‘multilateralize regionalism’. Most legal analyses of the WTO and regionalism focus on GATT Article XXIV. This Article (like GATS Article V) explains when the WTO permits the creation of inherently discriminatory customs unions (CUs) and free trade agreements (FTAs). A focus on Article XXIV puts the WTO and its rules at the centre of the universe. It presumes that the WTO effectively decides on when and how regional agreements are concluded. This chapter takes a different approach. It is grounded in general international law. Its starting point is that Article XXIV is inoperative as a discipline or brake on the creation and continued existence of regional agreements: politically, WTO members consistently fail to check regional agreements; in dispute settlement, WTO members shy away from challenging regional agreements and where Article XXIV is raised as a defence, panels and the Appellate Body do everything to avoid it.
Global Environmental Issues, second edition builds on the popularity of the first edition, viewing global environmental problems as complex issues with a network of causes, influenced by a range of actors with differing priorities. The book recognises that science underpins much of what happens in society and therefore it is important to be able to interpret the environmental and social consequences of scientific developments. In addition to discussing the main biophysical causes, the book illustrates how socio-economic and political factors determine why and how people use land, resources and technology, and how this in turn affects natural resource management. This edition includes new chapters on the politics of science, International environmental regulation and treaties, environmental issues in a globalised world and natural resource management. Global Environmental Issues, second edition is essential reading for upper level undergraduates and Masters students within departments of Environmental Science and Geography. Includes case studies from around the world to provide a real life context for the issues tackled in each chapter. Considers both the results of human actions and natural environmental change in order to provide balanced, in-depth debate. Includes coverage of contemporary 'hot topics' such as biodiversity, globalization and sustainable development. Chapters authored by experts in the field. Includes new chapters on The politics of science, International environmental regulation and treaties, Environmental issues in a globalised world and Natural Resource Management. Expanded sections include negotiating multilateral environmental agreements, GM crops, biofuels and marine and freshwater resources.
Séminaire à CleanED lab à l'Unversité des sciences et des technologies de Hanoi USTH
Notwithstanding great progress in scientific and economic understanding of climate change, it has proven difficult to forge international agreements because of free-riding, as seen in the defunct Kyoto Protocol. This study examines the club as a model for international climate policy. Based on economic theory and empirical modeling, it finds that without sanctions against non-participants there are no stable coalitions other than those with minimal abatement. By contrast, a regime with small trade penalties on non-participants, a Climate Club, can induce a large stable coalition with high levels of abatement.
The same rule which regulates the relative value of commodities in one country does not regulate the relative value of the commodities exchanged between two or more countries.
Under a system of perfectly free commerce, each country naturally devotes its capital and labor to such employments as are most beneficial to each. This pursuit of individual advantage is admirably connected with the universal good of the whole. By stimulating industry, by rewarding ingenuity, and by using most efficaciously the peculiar powers bestowed by nature, it distributes labor most effectively and most economically: while, by increasing the general mass of productions, it diffuses general benefit, and binds together, by one common tie of interest and intercourse, the universal society of nations throughout the civilised world. It is this principle which determines that wine shall be made in France and Portugal, that corn sell be grown in America and Poland, and that hardware and other goods shall be manufactured in England…