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International Trade in Environmental Goods and Services and Sustainable Production and Consumption

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Sustainable Consumption

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Abstract

Recent decades have been marked by a growing awareness of the importance of environmental issues. The interrelation between trade liberalization and protection of the environment is becoming increasingly clear, although a balance between them has proved difficult to strike. The desire for sustainable consumption can play an important role in the search for this balance, helping in the adoption of eco-friendly production and consumption patterns. In this scenario, environmental goods and services (EGS) have great potential because they are directly related to the generation of positive externalities (e.g., water, soil and air decontamination) and the reduction of negative externalities (e.g., reuse of materials and correct disposal of chemical products). The expression ‘environmental goods and services’, however, is not clearly defined; its meaning varies according to the context, as well as the emergence of new technologies. This chapter takes up the question of EGS in the context of trade. In so doing, it explores the following five themes: (1) the various definitions of EGS; (2) environmentally preferable goods and services and sustainable consumption; (3) the characteristics of the environmental goods and services sector; (4) the treatment of the subject matter in international trade agreements and; (5) future trends.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    According to Steenblik et al. (2005): ‘[M]any of the goods included on the APEC or the OECD list of environmental goods are used in the performance of environmental services. These include, in particular, items for holding, conveying, treating and filtering liquids, and instruments for monitoring and measuring’ (p. 2).

  2. 2.

    National Board of Trade (Kommerskollegium) (2014), p. 3.

  3. 3.

    Ibid, p. 4.

  4. 4.

    See: OECD (1999).

  5. 5.

    See: UNEP (2010), p. 44.

  6. 6.

    According to a study by the OECD, ‘the ability of some service providers to offer an integrated package of environmental technologies to address complex environmental problems may be spurring the move away from end-of-pipe solutions to those based on prevention’. See Steenblik et al. (2005), p. 19. This trend had already been observed by the OECD in studies from the 1990s: ‘Description and discussion of the [environmental] industry which focuses mainly on “end-of-pipe” technologies and clean-up services will not capture structural change in the industry as regulation and incentives move towards reducing resource use, minimizing waste, and adopting cleaner technologies and production processes’. OECD (1996), p. 5.

  7. 7.

    See: US General Services Administration (2017).

  8. 8.

    Lendo (2005), p. 10.

  9. 9.

    See: Ferrier (2004).

  10. 10.

    See: European Union (2015).

  11. 11.

    See Associação Brasileira de Biogás e Biometano (2015).

  12. 12.

    The Services Sectoral Classification List (MTN.GNS/W/120 or W/120) is a list of services divided in 12 sectors and several sub-sectors covered under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). It was compiled in 1991 during the eighth round of multilateral trade negotiations (Uruguay Round) conducted within the framework of the GATT. Its main purpose was to facilitate the negotiations.

  13. 13.

    It is worth adding that this is the position advocated by the European Union in its trade negotiations.

    According to Waglé et al. (2005), p. 17: ‘the E.U. has been actively pursuing the liberalisation of environmental services, and also sectors that have bearing on water distribution and consumption, arguing that its proposal views the entire water cycle holistically with both water distribution and waste-water treatment falling under “resource use”.’

  14. 14.

    According to Celli Junior (2009), p. 199: ‘Ao incluir em sua proposta a “água para uso humano”, as CE suscitaram, porém, várias preocupações relativamente ao controle da água como um recurso, bem como questões relacionadas ao acesso equitativo de água limpa entre as camadas mais pobres das populações dos países em desenvolvimento. A reação predominante, como não poderia deixar de ser, foi de cautela, já que, ao aceitarem tal premissa os Membros em desenvolvimento poderiam acabar assumindo compromissos que incluiriam implicitamente qualquer serviço que tivesse ligação com um ‘uso final’ ambiental, tais como engenharia e construção, dentre outros’. On this, see also Figueiredo (2017).

  15. 15.

    The IBRD Articles of Agreement became effective in December 1945 and the bank began its operations in 1946 with 38 members. The IBRD is one of the five institutions that compose the World Bank Group. The World Bank currently has 189 members. See: World Bank (2017).

  16. 16.

    The IMF Articles of Agreement, in their turn, also became effective in December 1945 and the organization began its operations in March 1947 with the participation of 29 countries. The IMF currently has 189 members. See International Monetary Fund (2017).

  17. 17.

    Signed by 29 countries in 1947, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade—GATT/47 was intended to be a temporary agreement until the approval of the Havana Charter, a much more comprehensive agreement which negotiations were subsequently abandoned, turning the GATT/47 into a definitive agreement. The GATT/47 focused mainly on the reduction and elimination of trade tariffs. Originally, it was a treaty without an administrative structure, because this structure was contemplated in other chapters of the Havana Charter that never came into force. Nevertheless, through practice and a series of later rounds of negotiations, the GATT evolved gradually into a de facto institution with a Council, a Secretariat and Committees. See: Hunter et al. (1998), pp. 1180–1181.

  18. 18.

    Beurier and Kiss (2000) systematize the main questions that should be addressed by the panel: ‘En principe, trois questions devaient être posées lorsqu’il s’agissait de juger une mesure prise par un État invoquant l’article XX, al. b: - la politique ou la mesure en cause vise-t-elle essentiellement la protection de la santé et de la vie des personnes et des animaux ou la protection des végétaux? - la mesure en faveur de laquelle l’exception est invoquée, est-elle nécessaire pour la protection de la santé et de la vie des personnes ou la préservation des végétaux? - cette mesure cherche-t-elle à éviter d’une façon systématique toute discrimination arbitraire ou injustifieé ou bien une restriction déguisée au commerce international?’ (p. 357).

  19. 19.

    Some examples of this relationship are: Principle 2 (safeguard of natural resources for the benefit of present and future generations through careful planning or management), Principle 6 (struggle against pollution) and Principle 24 (international cooperation for the protection and improvement of the environment).

  20. 20.

    Some examples are: Principle 1 (right to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature), Principle 3 (present and future generations’ right to development); Principle 4 (environmental protection as an integral part of the development process); Principle 7 (international cooperation to ensure the health and integrity of Earth’s ecosystem with common but differentiated responsibilities); Principle 8 (reduction and elimination of unsustainable patterns of production and consumption); Principle 12 (promotion of an international economic system that leads to economic growth and sustainable development in all countries); and Principle 16 (internalization of environmental costs).

  21. 21.

    See: Amaral Júnior (2011), p. 149.

  22. 22.

    See: World Trade Organization (2017a).

  23. 23.

    See World Trade Organization (2017b).

  24. 24.

    WT/MIN(01)/DEC/1.

  25. 25.

    Although there are some initiatives for tariff reduction of environmental goods, they are much more independent initiatives from the members themselves or from negotiations at the regional level than the result of multilateral negotiations. Moreover, non-tariff barriers and barriers to trade in services continue to form a major obstacle to trade in environmental goods and services.

  26. 26.

    In this regard, at the meeting of the Trade and Environment Committee held in November 2016, a number of environmental issues were discussed, among them chemical and waste management initiatives (concerning mainly electronic waste) and the proposal presented by Canada, South Korea, Costa Rica, Mexico and Taipei China to deepen discussions on climate change and trade. See: World Trade Organization (2016).

  27. 27.

    See: Australia, et al. (2014a).

  28. 28.

    See: Australia, et al. (2014b).

  29. 29.

    At the time of submission of these declarations in 2014, it had not yet been determined whether the environmental services would be part of the Environmental Goods Agreement or the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA). See: Vossenaar (2014), p. ix. However, it is more likely that environmental services will integrate TiSA.

  30. 30.

    Global Services Coalition (2016).

  31. 31.

    European Commission (2014), p. 1.

  32. 32.

    European Commission (2015), p. 5.

  33. 33.

    European Commission (2016a), p. 4.

  34. 34.

    See: European Commission (2017).

  35. 35.

    See: Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2018).

  36. 36.

    Ibid.

  37. 37.

    See: Australian Department of Trade and Foreign Affairs (2018).

  38. 38.

    See: European Commission (2016b).

  39. 39.

    See: European Union (2015).

  40. 40.

    Brunei, Cambodia, Philippines, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

  41. 41.

    See Australian Department of Trade and Foreign Affairs (2018).

  42. 42.

    Ibid.

  43. 43.

    Association of Southeast Asian Nations, et al. (2012).

  44. 44.

    Ibid.

  45. 45.

    ‘National parliaments in EU countries – and in some cases regional ones too – will then need to approve CETA before it can take full effect.’ See: European Commission (2018).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of São Paulo Law School, São Paulo, Brazil

    Guilherme José Pastana de Figueiredo

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  1. Guilherme José Pastana de Figueiredo
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Law, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Alberto do Amaral Junior

  2. Florence School of Regulation, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Florence, Italy

    Lucila de Almeida

  3. Department of Law, UNISINOS University of the Rio dos Sinos Valley and University of Buenos Aires, São Leopoldo, Brazil

    Luciane Klein Vieira

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de Figueiredo, G.J.P. (2020). International Trade in Environmental Goods and Services and Sustainable Production and Consumption. In: Amaral Junior, A.d., Almeida, L.d., Klein Vieira, L. (eds) Sustainable Consumption. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16985-5_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16985-5_11

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