frenar el gats!

Friends of the Earth International opposes the continuation of GATS negotiations, asserting that the agreement grants transnational corporations excessive rights at the expense of national environmental and social policies. The document highlights how GATS limits the right of governments to legislate, particularly regarding essential public services and natural resource management. It specifically warns that expanding GATS into energy, water, and tourism sectors could lead to irreversible ecological damage and the forced privatization of basic human needs. The organization demands the exclusion of public services and extractive industries from GATS disciplines and the implementation of strong environmental exemptions.

• The GATS functions as the world's first multilateral investment agreement, potentially limiting a government's ability to maintain regulatory measures for environmental protection or public interest, including quantitative restrictions on service activities.
• Current GATS negotiations may force countries to prove to a WTO panel that their social and environmental protection standards are the 'least burdensome' available, rather than simply adopting a reasonable regulatory approach.
• The agreement lacks effective environmental exemptions and does not include explicit exceptions for human rights or social sustainability, which may lead to a 'freeze' in the development of progressive environmental policies due to the threat of compensation claims.
• GATS pressures the privatization of essential public services such as water, electricity, and healthcare, reinforcing structural adjustment programs from the IMF and World Bank and making it difficult for governments to reverse privatization decisions.
• In the energy sector, GATS disciplines could restrict governments from imposing quantitative limits on fossil fuel exploration, the number of drilling rigs, or the size and volume of oil pipelines.
• The inclusion of water services under GATS, proposed by the EU as 'environmental services', threatens the accessibility of water as a basic human need and may lead to the depletion of aquifers and other water sources due to prohibitions on quantitative restrictions.
• The 'environmental services' category in GATS is largely a misnomer, as it primarily covers 'end-of-pipe' activities like waste disposal and sewage treatment, which may lead to the expansion of harmful activities such as waste incineration.

APA

Friends of the Earth International (2003). frenar el gats! https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/gats-esp-final.pdf

Chicago

Friends of the Earth International. frenar el gats! 2003. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/gats-esp-final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Friends of the Earth International |title=frenar el gats! |date=August 2003 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/gats-esp-final.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{friendsoftheearthinternational2003frenar, author = {{Friends of the Earth International}}, title = {{frenar el gats!}}, publisher = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2003}, month = aug, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/gats-esp-final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }