Abstract
While the trade and environment debate has long focused on the adverse impact of environmental measures on free trade and vice versa and on securing policy space to regulate in the environmental interest, the focus has only recently started to shift to the potentially reinforcing relationship between trade and sustainable development. The present contribution explores this notion by discussing the liberalization of trade in low-carbon goods as a contribution to the fight against climate change. It provides an overview over the existing trade barriers and the efforts to eliminate these barriers for renewable energy goods and energy efficient technologies. The contribution furthermore identifies the liberalization potentials and main challenges in the multilateral, plurilateral and regional contexts. Perhaps surprisingly, mega-regional trade agreements are identified as the most promising venue to pursue ambitious liberalization efforts for low-carbon goods, if trade negotiators were willing to make this a central part of the agreements.
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Notes
- 1.
See below, part 2.
- 2.
See below, part 4.
- 3.
See below, part 4.5.
- 4.
See below, part 2.
- 5.
These are Canada—Renewable Energy, WT/DS412; China—Measures Concerning Wind Power
Equipment, WT/DS419; Canada—Feed-in Tariff Program, WT/DS426; US—Countervailing Measures (China), WT/DS437; US—Countervailing and Anti-Dumping Measures (China), WT/DS449, European Union and Certain Member States—Certain Measures Affecting the Renewable Energy Generation Sector, WT/DS452; India—Certain Measures Relating to Solar Cells and Solar Modules, WT/DS456.
- 6.
Under tariff line 850231 of the Harmonized System of the World Customs Organization (WCO).
- 7.
Art. 2.2 TBT Agreement.
- 8.
Art. 2.4 TBT Agreement.
- 9.
See below, part 4.5.
- 10.
Compulsory licensing denotes a mechanism under which the use of a patent can be authorised without the explicit consent of the patent holder when overriding public interests are at stake.
- 11.
Compare Article 31 TRIPS.
- 12.
Art. X GPA.
- 13.
Grid parity is reached when the costs of production for renewable electricity equal the cost of conventional electricity fed into the grid.
- 14.
The Harmonized System, as explained by the WTO, is an international nomenclature developed by the World Customs Organization, which is arranged in six-digit codes allowing all participating countries to classify traded goods on a common basis. Beyond the six-digit level, countries are free to introduce national distinctions for tariffs and other purposes. Whereas a customs code with low number of digits stands for a broad product category, 6-digit lines are the most detailed standard product definitions.
- 15.
Compare Annex III of the March 2010 Report to the Trade Negotiations Committee.
- 16.
The Joint Statement Regarding Trade in Environmental Goods of 24 January 2014 is available online at the Commission’s DG Trade Website.
- 17.
Text of the Agreement retrieved 15 May, 2015, from https://www.ec.gc.ca/caraib-carib.
- 18.
EU-Colombia-Peru FTA, Art. 271 (2), retrieved at 15 May, 2015, from http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2011/march/tradoc_147704.pdf.
- 19.
EU-Colombia-Peru FTA, Art. 275 (4).
- 20.
EU-Colombia-Peru FTA, Art. 275 (5).
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Frey, C. (2016). Tackling Climate Change Through the Elimination of Trade Barriers for Low-Carbon Goods: Multilateral, Plurilateral and Regional Approaches. In: Mauerhofer, V. (eds) Legal Aspects of Sustainable Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26021-1_22
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