COMPETITIVE SUSTAINABILITY

The authors propose 'competitive sustainability' to resolve the conflict between international trade and environmental protection. They argue that the current status quo allows countries with weak environmental laws to maintain a competitive cost advantage, effectively subsidizing unsustainable production. To counter this, the paper suggests implementing environmental countervailing duties to internalize external costs and encourage the adoption of higher standards. The authors advocate for a 'carrot-and-stick' approach, combining these duties with trade incentives and technology transfers, particularly for developing nations. Furthermore, they propose reforming GATT's standard of review to give more deference to environmental goals and expanding the role of NGOs and private companies in trade dispute resolution to ensure ecological accountability.

• The current global status quo is failing because economic activities are occurring at a scale that risks both ecological and economic systems, exemplified by global warming and ozone depletion.
• A competitive cost advantage currently exists for products made under substandard environmental laws or weak enforcement, as these products effectively pass the costs of environmental harm downstream to the public and other producers.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (1993). COMPETITIVE SUSTAINABILITY. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/TradeEnv_Reinforcing_1993.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. COMPETITIVE SUSTAINABILITY. 1993. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/TradeEnv_Reinforcing_1993.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=COMPETITIVE SUSTAINABILITY |date=1993 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/TradeEnv_Reinforcing_1993.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw1993competitive, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{COMPETITIVE SUSTAINABILITY}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {1993}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/TradeEnv_Reinforcing_1993.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }