Climate Change Mitigation from the Bottom Up: Using Preferential Trade Agreements to Promote Climate Change Mitigation

Leal‐Arcas, Rafael

doi:10.21552/cclr/2013/1/243

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Apart from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), it was furthermore not until the late 2000s/early 2010s that GEIs paid serious attention to the trade-climate nexus (see Table 1). In the 2010s there was a surge of interest in trade-climate aspects of free/regional trade agreements (FTA/RTAs) that by this time had become the principal front of trade diplomacy [61][62][63]. This has remained the main focus of trade-climate academic studies, as well as reconciling trade and climate agendas within global-international governance structures [64][65][66][67][68].…”

Section: The Trade-climate Nexus and Neoliberal Environmentalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neoliberal Environmentalism, Climate Interventionism and the Trade-Climate Nexus

Dent

2022

Sustainability

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Trade has become an increasingly core part and defining feature of our globalising world economy, and so by default has become integrally linked to climate change and action. Trade has not only rapidly expanded over recent decades but also driven contemporary economic development and growth, especially in countries where carbon and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have too risen sharply. Increasing attention has consequently been afforded to the nexus between trade and climate change. Trade is now a key front for climate action. For some time, neoliberal environmentalism has been viewed as the dominant discourse on climate policy and other aspects of environmental governance. However, it has been very rarely applied to, or its relevance tested against the trade-climate nexus specifically. The paper presents a study on this relationship based on new original empirical research and the investigation of the following hypotheses or research questions. To what extent has neoliberal environmentalism thus far dominated mainstream international and global discourses on trade-linked efforts on climate action? What have been the principal features of neoliberal environmentalism within these discourses? Do the results of the study’s empirical research suggest the need to include other relevant analytical approaches to develop a better comprehension of how trade-climate nexus issues are being addressed? In addressing the above the paper develops an analytical framework comprises modelled normative elements of neoliberal environmentalism as well as relevant concepts of state-market relations. This frames the discursive evaluation of the study’s research that is based on a multi-stage, in-depth text analysis of 37 key publications produced by global economic institutions (GEIs) on the trade-climate nexus from 2007 to 2022. Market-based instruments (MBIs) were found to be by far the strongest normative element in this text corpus. This subsequently provided scope for exploring whether different forms of ‘climate interventionism’ were evident in the trade-climate nexus, and thus more nuanced and alternative understandings of the subject. The paper’s main contribution to the literature on this subject is to open up ideas and debate concerning how important aspects of neoliberal environmentalism overlap with, and can be better understood in the context of state-market relations. Evidence from this study’s research suggests that in the trade-climate nexus discourse there exists considerable space for states and international institutions to adopt, promote and innovate different forms of climate interventionism through various trade policy and governance actions. It is further argued that MBI-based trade related policies can only take us so far in climate action efforts. More ardent forms of state and other institutional interventions, from the local to the global-international levels, are required to ultimately achieve increasingly urgent climate goals.

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Section: The Trade-climate Nexus and Neoliberal Environmentalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neoliberal Environmentalism, Climate Interventionism and the Trade-Climate Nexus

Dent

2022

Sustainability

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“…Such implications may relate to trade-related measures that are envisaged in so-called "climate clubs" (e.g. Nordhaus, 2015), but they may also be linked to the environmental or climate-related provisions of regional trade agreements (RTAs) (Jinnah and Morgera, 2013;Leal-Arcas, 2013).…”

Section: Multilateralism and Regionalism In Climate And Trade Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change and trade policy interactions

Asselt¹

2017

OECD Trade and Environment Working Papers

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The OECD Trade and Environment Working Paper series is designed to make available to a wide readership selected studies by OECD staff or outside consultants. OECD Working Papers should not be reported as representing the official views of the OECD or of its member countries. The opinions expressed and the arguments employed are those of the authors. Working Papers describe preliminary results or research in progress by the author(s) and are published to stimulate discussion on a broad range of issues on which the OECD works. Comments on Working Papers are welcomed, and may be sent to the Environment Directorate or the Trade and Agriculture Directorate, OECD,

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“…The approach proposed here to overcome these barriers is to promote renewable energy through the vast network of EU PTAs, 13 so as to create a better trading environment for renewables. Indeed, "trade mechanisms can be an effective tool for securing environmental objectives" and "regional trade arrangements could be designed to provide for an attractive package to settle trade-offs and conflicts of interest" as well as facilitate an increased use of renewable energy ( [42], p. 34).…”

Section: Why Use Ptas To Promote Renewables?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, the U.S.-Israel FTA is not regional. But the RTA terminology still persists at the WTO", see ( [41], p. xi; [42], p. 34). For the purposes of this paper, the term EU PTAs is considered to encompass all reciprocal trade agreements between EU and one or more partners (e.g., RTAs, FTAs and CUs), but not the EU GSP and other unilateral trade preferences, which will not be assessed.…”

Section: Why Use Ptas To Promote Renewables?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The above-mentioned provisions, which do not provide for any legally enforceable obligation, represent a meaningful expression of the WTO negotiations concerning the elimination of obstacles to trade in environmental goods and services. 42 Indeed, the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference, held in Doha in 2001, launched multilateral negotiations aimed at "enhancing the mutual supportiveness of trade and environment" ( [130], para. 31), through "the reduction or, as appropriate, elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers to environmental goods and services" ( [130], para.…”

Section: Liberalizing Renewable Energy Goods Services and Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Renewables, Preferential Trade Agreements and EU Energy Security

Leal‐Arcas

Caruso

Leupuscek

2015

Laws

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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.

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Climate Change Mitigation from the Bottom Up: Using Preferential Trade Agreements to Promote Climate Change Mitigation

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Neoliberal Environmentalism, Climate Interventionism and the Trade-Climate Nexus

Neoliberal Environmentalism, Climate Interventionism and the Trade-Climate Nexus

Climate change and trade policy interactions

Renewables, Preferential Trade Agreements and EU Energy Security

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