Report
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Dr. Demetrios Papademetriou, Mr. John Audley, Ms. Sandra Polaski, …
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REQUIRED IMAGE
Other
Trade Preferences and Environmental Goods
Published on Feb 19, 2003
Source: Carnegie
For the World Trade Organization (WTO), the most important development in a decade related to trade-environment linkages is the agreement to liberalize commerce in environmental goods and services. If properly executed, the agreement will increase the availability of "green" goods in global markets and break the North-South deadlock that has paralyzed discussion on the trade regime governing such goods.
However, WTO members appear to be limiting negotiations to capital-intensive environmental technologies and engineering services, for which developed countries enjoy a comparative advantage. These goods account for the largest part of the $525 billion spent annually on the environmental sector worldwide. However, they are neither the sole nor most visible part of environmental markets. Green consumer goods - from energy-efficient lighting to recycled products - together with resource-based products, including organic produce and sustainable forest and fisheries products, need to come within the purview of WTO negotiations.
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About the Author
Scott Vaughan is visiting scholar with the Carnegie Endowment. He previously held positions with the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation, the World Trade Organization, the United Nations Environment Program, the Royal Bank Financial Group (Canada), and the Canadian federal minister of the environment.
The Trade, Equity, and Development (TED) Series is part of an effort by Carnegie's Trade, Equity, and Development Project to broaden the debate surrounding trade liberalization to include perspectives not normally present in the Washington policy community.
Also in the TED series:
Controlling Corruption: A Key to Development-Oriented Trade, Peter Eigen
Environment's New Role in U.S. Trade Policy, John Audley
Reforming Global Trade in Agriculture: A Developing-Country Perspective, Shishir Priyadarshi
Doha: Is It Really a Development Round?, Kamal Malhotra
About the Author
Mr. Scott Vaughan
Former Visiting Scholar
- NAFTA's Promise and Reality: Lessons from Mexico for the Hemishphere
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Mr. John Audley, George Perkovich, Ms. Sandra Polaski, …
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Carnegie India does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
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