WWF-CIEL Discussion Paper

This 2001 research paper by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and WWF examines the legal and practical tensions between Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). It analyzes how WTO rules on trade in goods, services, and intellectual property can conflict with environmental objectives, such as the precautionary principle and biodiversity conservation. The paper argues for a legal clarification of the MEA-WTO relationship to ensure that trade rules do not undermine environmental governance and proposes practical steps for policy coherence, including sustainability assessments and enhanced inter-ministerial cooperation.

• The relationship between trade measures used in MEAs and WTO rules is currently unclear, which may lead to the underdevelopment of such measures and inadequate implementation of MEAs.
• There is a significant tension between the precautionary principle, a core element of many MEAs, and the 'science-based' rules of the WTO, specifically within the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement). This creates a risk that the SPS Agreement could be used to interfere with the implementation of the Biosafety Protocol.
• The WTO's TRIPS Agreement may undermine the objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), particularly regarding the sharing of benefits from genetic resources and the protection of indigenous knowledge, as TRIPS requires intellectual property protection without requiring benefit-sharing with source communities.
• Liberalization of trade in services under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) could negatively impact the implementation of various MEAs: tourism services may affect the CBD, transportation and energy services may aggravate global warming (UNFCCC), and waste management services may affect the Basel Convention.
• The WTO's non-discrimination rules regarding 'like-products' create uncertainty for environmental regulations that seek to distinguish products based on 'process and production methods' (PPMs), such as the Basel Convention's requirements for environmentally sound disposal in foreign countries.
• To resolve the MEA-WTO conflict, the paper suggests applying the international law principle of 'lex specialis', where specialized treaties (MEAs) prevail over general ones (WTO), and the 'presumption against conflicts', interpreting WTO rules to support MEA implementation.
• The paper recommends that governments implement sustainability assessments (both ex ante and ex post) to understand how trade liberalization affects environmental resources covered by MEAs, such as forests, fisheries, and genetic resources.
• The paper identifies a lack of a single forum for environmental policy-makers to discuss MEA-WTO relationships, unlike the WTO's Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE), and suggests increasing communication between MEA secretariats and using MEA Conferences of Parties for these discussions.

APA

Stilwell, M., & Tarasofsky, R. (2001). WWF-CIEL Discussion Paper. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Coherent_EnvirEco_Governance.pdf

Chicago

Stilwell, Matthew, and Richard Tarasofsky. WWF-CIEL Discussion Paper. Center for International Environmental Law, 2001. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Coherent_EnvirEco_Governance.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Stilwell |first1=Matthew |last2=Tarasofsky |first2=Richard |title=WWF-CIEL Discussion Paper |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=October 2001 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Coherent_EnvirEco_Governance.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stilwell2001wwfciel, author = {Stilwell, Matthew and Tarasofsky, Richard}, title = {{WWF-CIEL Discussion Paper}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2001}, month = oct, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Coherent_EnvirEco_Governance.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }