We need more hybrid trade and environment agreements

Tancrède Voituriez (1, 2, 3)

1 UMR ART-Dev - Acteurs, Ressources et Territoires dans le Développement
2 Cirad-ES - Département Environnements et Sociétés
3 IDDRI - Institut du Développement Durable et des Relations Internationales

As the World Trade Organization (WTO) takes on more environmental issues and unilateral initiatives by big players such as the European Union entail explicit border measures to address environmental targets, the governance of trade and the environment returns to the forefront of both agendas. We argue that the double move of more coercive trade tools for environmental goals and more soft environmental talks at the WTO won’t deliver the expected change on either the trade or environmental front. Hybrid trade, along with environment agreements such as the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability initiated by New Zealand, seem a more promising option.

Keywords: Trade Agreements; Environmental Changes; Climate Change Policy

Domains: Environmental Sciences; Humanities and Social Sciences

Tancrède Voituriez. We need more hybrid trade and environment agreements. Trade and Sustainability Review, 2023, 3 (1). ⟨hal-03949185⟩