FREE TRADE AND PLANTATIONS

The briefing examines how bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements facilitate the expansion of monoculture tree plantations. It highlights how the broad definitions of 'services' and 'investment'—often referencing the WTO's GATS—limit the ability of national governments to implement environmental policies and can lead to corporate claims of expropriation when states prevent deforestation for plantation purposes.

• Free trade agreements are fundamentally linked to the growth of monoculture plantations because they require the production of large quantities of homogeneous products for export.
• The use of the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) definition in trade agreements is overly broad, which can restrict the power of national governments to pursue development, social, or environmental goals.
• Ambiguous definitions of 'investment' have allowed the scope of corporate claims to expand; for example, under NAFTA, tribunals have classified a corporation's expectation of gaining market share as an investment.
• Tree plantations, including those for agrofuels, can be classified as investments or services under these agreements. This can lead to situations where a state's action to prevent the logging of a forest for plantations is legally treated as an expropriation of the investor's expected returns.

APA

Friends of the Earth International (n.d.). FREE TRADE AND PLANTATIONS. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/art-plantaciones-tlc-ingles-final.pdf

Chicago

Friends of the Earth International. FREE TRADE AND PLANTATIONS. n.d. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/art-plantaciones-tlc-ingles-final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Friends of the Earth International |title=FREE TRADE AND PLANTATIONS |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/art-plantaciones-tlc-ingles-final.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{friendsoftheearthinternationalndfree, author = {{Friends of the Earth International}}, title = {{FREE TRADE AND PLANTATIONS}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/art-plantaciones-tlc-ingles-final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }