Trade and Environment Governance at the World Trade Organization Committee on Trade and Environment

Trade and Environment Governance at the World Trade Organization Committee on Trade and Environment is a unique book which focuses on resolving the conflict between environment and trade norms through dispute settlement mechanisms. The author of this book has interacted as an ambassador with negotiators, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO)Secretariat, media, and academics.

This book has very little competition as it is one of the first of its kind to have systematically analyzedWTO’s Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE) in great depth and designed environmentally friendly trade policies by taking into consideration the perspectives of the developing-developed economies. It aims to demonstrate that increased knowledge and experience-sharing plus coordination among international and local experts and the professional bureaucracy are key to formulating practical approaches to new rules in the areas of trade and environment governance and minimizing potential policy conflicts.

This book provides how the particular characteristics of twenty key work outputs of the CTE have an impact on the current practice in trade and environment policy discussions. Crucial issues, such as the following, have been intrinsically discussed:
- a singular harmonized global governance framework versus the centrifugal force of community-based, localized or regional solutions that emphasize diversity and multifaceted institution building;
- drawbacks and continuing relevance of the CTE Work Agenda;
- issues related to carbon, intellectual property rights and services;
- market access for environmental goods;
- requirements for environmental purposes relating to products, including standards and technical regulations, packaging, labeling, and recycling; and
- ways forward for combining global regimes with local solutions in an environmental context.

This book imparts solid empirical knowledge from actual governance practice accompanied by a detailed review of the work on trade and environment in the WTO and taking into account the broader context of other policy frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Goals.

This book will help to understand the day-to-day, real-world deliberations in WTO negotiating fora on the mutually supportive relationship between international trade and environmental governance, and the triple win goal for trade, development, and the environment. It aims to target policy makers and negotiators in the areas of both trade and environment, students, and academics looking for an overview of discussions in the CTE, as well as theorists and experts in the field of global governance.