{"id":26752,"date":"2024-02-14T10:44:45","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T15:44:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/gdp\/?p=26752"},"modified":"2024-02-14T10:44:45","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T15:44:45","slug":"getting-the-green-light-the-legal-implications-of-global-trade-rules-on-achieving-global-climate-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/gdp\/2024\/02\/14\/getting-the-green-light-the-legal-implications-of-global-trade-rules-on-achieving-global-climate-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting the Green Light: The Legal Implications of Global Trade Rules on Achieving Global Climate Goals"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Photo by Maximo Lopez via Unsplash.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite the fact that the climate crisis requires great international collaboration and coordination when it comes to policymaking for mitigating emissions, the most recent report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) demonstrates conclusively that country leaders have not taken nearly enough action. The obstacles to climate action are myriad \u2013 political, financial and legal, national and international.<\/p>\n

Global trade and investment rules are aimed primarily at limiting obstacles to cross-border economic activity by removing trade barriers, limiting regulatory barriers and increasing transparency. Those rules may also make it harder for countries to deploy certain kinds of climate policy and to design their policies in ways that simultaneously achieve development outcomes and build political will in favor of environmental protection. Furthermore, by constraining the use of certain kinds of policymaking, trade rules may be exacerbating the already exorbitant costs of meeting climate goals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A new policy brief<\/strong> <\/em><\/a>from Rachel Thrasher<\/a>, Warren Kaplan<\/a> and Yudong (Nathan) Liu investigates the potential legal obstacles posed by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the network of bilateral and regional trade and investment agreements. It maps an illustrative list of diverse climate policies onto existing global trade and investment rules to act as a quick test of the extent to which international legal constraints are in tension with much of climate policy as practiced by states. Initial findings suggest that it is common for the most active countries to ignore trade rule constraints in crafting their climate policy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Global trade rules must be reformed in a way consistent with global climate goals \u2013 so that all <\/i>countries can implement the suite of climate policies needed to mitigate climate change while continuing to grow their economies. Reform of this sort must proceed carefully, following three core principles:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n