• Research
  • Emissary
  • About
  • Experts
Carnegie Global logoCarnegie lettermark logo
DemocracyIran
  • Donate
{
  "authors": [
    "Scott Vaughan"
  ],
  "type": "other",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "",
  "programs": [],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [],
  "topics": [
    "Economy",
    "Trade",
    "Climate Change"
  ]
}
REQUIRED IMAGE

REQUIRED IMAGE

Other

Trade Preferences and Environmental Goods

Link Copied
By Mr. Scott Vaughan
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.

Click on link above for full text of this TED Policy Brief.

A limited number of print copies are available.
Request a copy

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

    Recent Work

  • Report
    NAFTA's Promise and Reality: Lessons from Mexico for the Hemishphere
      • +1

      Dr. Demetrios Papademetriou, Mr. John Audley, Ms. Sandra Polaski, …

  • Other
    Decoding Cancun: Hard Decisions for a Development Round
      • +1

      Mr. John Audley, George Perkovich, Ms. Sandra Polaski, …

Mr. Scott Vaughan
Former Visiting Scholar
EconomyTradeClimate Change

Carnegie 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.

More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

  • Climate desalination plant Saudi Arabia
    Paper
    Ecological Statecraft in the Midst of War: Water, Regeneration, and the Future of Gulf Security

    The U.S.-Iran war has crossed a dangerous threshold: water infrastructure in the Gulf is now a target. Ecological statecraft is no longer peripheral to security, it's part of its foundations.

      • Ali Bin Shahid

      Olivia Lazard, Ali Bin Shahid

  • wide shot of the city of Dakar by the water
    Commentary
    Senegal: An Island of Resilience

    During our visit, we observed a democracy that has learned from its difficult past and is working toward an even more dynamic future.

      • Sarah Yerkes

      Sarah Yerkes, Natalie Triche

  • Commentary
    Introduction: Beyond Climate Displacement

    Across the Middle East and North Africa, climate stress interacts with economic fragility, governance failures, social marginalization, and conflict.

      Camille Ammoun

  • Article
    Continental Asia and the Rise of Portfolio Politics

    “Central Asia” as an analytical category is itself part of the problem. The term is a Soviet administrative inheritance, drawn along lines that served the convenience of Moscow. The Central Asian states the Soviets named no longer see themselves through this category alone and are not aligning across political blocs but are instead building external partnerships sector by sector, assigning different partners to different functions.

      Jennifer B. Murtazashvili

  • Article
    Palestine’s Climate Change Planning Faces Its Limits

    Barriers ranging from weak legal frameworks to ongoing, occupation-related limitations are constraining Palestine from achieving its ambitious climate targets.

      Joy Arkeh, Nabil Nasser

Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Carnegie global logo, stacked
1779 Massachusetts Avenue NWWashington, DC, 20036-2103Phone: 202 483 7600
  • Research
  • Emissary
  • About
  • Experts
  • Donate
  • Programs
  • Events
  • Blogs
  • Podcasts
  • Contact
  • Annual Reports
  • Careers
  • Privacy
  • For Media
  • Government Resources
Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
© 2026 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All rights reserved.