The United States sent a communication to World Trade Organization members last week on climate and trade in hopes of advancing multilateral discussions on how trade policies can support efforts to combat climate change.
The US communication, "Understanding the Opportunities and Challenges of the Green Transition: Coherence and Interoperability of Trade-Related Climate Measures," recognizes that countries are already implementing trade-related climate measures and that approaches will vary across countries based on their own unique circumstances, according to the US Trade Representative's Office.
The communication proposes that discussions at the WTO should focus on how these different policies can complement each other, to the extent possible, and avoid working at cross purposes. It identifies certain areas of climate-related discussions which are more advanced at the WTO and can be deepened and lead to positive outcomes.
The US communication also encourages WTO members to draw upon work already underway in other international bodies to avoid duplication of efforts. USTR will use the communication to engage other WTO members on constructive and practical ways to leverage discussions at the WTO to advance mutual goals to address climate change.
The communication notes that WTO members are considering and implementing policy measures to address climate change that are appropriate to their specific political and economic circumstances.
Significant Work RemainsWTO members recognize the role that trade policies can play in dealing with climate change and are putting in place and implementing trade-related climate measures at a growing rate, having already notified through various WTO committees over a thousand trade-related measures on climate change mitigation and adaptation, and thousands more environmental measures and regulatory policies that relate to climate change and environmental protection (such as ozone layer protection and the protection of forests).
"As these policies are implemented, WTO Members would benefit from conversations to understand latest developments and work on how to assess the effectiveness and impact, including on trade, of various TrCMs domestically and internationally," USTR said.
"Specifically, there is general acknowledgement that greater coherence and interoperability between different TrCMs could improve their effectiveness in addressing climate change, while also reducing unnecessary costs and trade tensions. Given the urgency and need for WTO Members to take action to address climate change, and given their diverse political and economic situations, it would be helpful for WTO Members to have practical information on ways to design and implement measures to achieve maximum policy effectiveness," according to the US communication.
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