the tyranny of free trade wasted natural wealth and lost livelihoods

This report by Friends of the Earth International argues that World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations and regional free trade agreements prioritize corporate profit over environmental sustainability and human rights, leading to the loss of livelihoods for millions of small-scale farmers, fishers, and indigenous peoples. The document details how trade liberalization facilitates the privatization of natural resources, undermines food sovereignty, and exacerbates climate change and desertification across various global regions.

• The WTO's Doha Round negotiations, specifically the Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) proposals, threaten to eliminate tariffs on forest products, fish, and minerals, which could lead to the further depletion of natural resources and the loss of livelihoods for approximately 40 million small-scale fishers.
• Trade rules and the Agreement on Agriculture (AOA) create inequitable terms for small farmers in developing countries by allowing industrialized nations to subsidize their own products and dump them in southern markets, undercutting local producers and forcing farmers from their land.
• The Trade Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement facilitates 'biopiracy' by allowing northern corporations to patent seeds and traditional medicines developed by southern communities, thereby restricting indigenous peoples' and farmers' access to their own traditional knowledge.
• Trade liberalization in the energy and water sectors, often pushed through the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), leads to privatization that increases costs for the poor and reduces government ability to ensure these essential resources as human rights.
• Export-oriented agricultural trade is a driver of desertification and deforestation. In Ghana, the expansion of yam farming for export has led to the conversion of forest lands, while in Haiti, the inability to compete with food imports has forced people to overexploit forests for charcoal, resulting in the loss of 99% of the country's forests.
• The international mineral trade is structured to disadvantage developing countries through 'tariff escalation,' where low tariffs on raw ores and high tariffs on processed goods discourage domestic manufacturing in the source countries, leaving them to bear the environmental and social costs of extraction.
• Trade agreements may undermine global climate action by restricting the policy space for governments to implement greenhouse gas emission reductions, promote sustainable domestic industries, or reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
• Case studies demonstrate that alternatives to free trade, such as the Atlantic inshore fisheries in Canada (which limits licenses to individual small-boat harvesters) and the Molino Santa Rosa workers' cooperative in Uruguay, can successfully support local employment and food security.

APA

Friends of the Earth International (2005). the tyranny of free trade wasted natural wealth and lost livelihoods. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/tyranny.pdf

Chicago

Friends of the Earth International. the tyranny of free trade wasted natural wealth and lost livelihoods. 2005. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/tyranny.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Friends of the Earth International |title=the tyranny of free trade wasted natural wealth and lost livelihoods |date=December 2005 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/tyranny.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{friendsoftheearthinternational2005tyranny, author = {{Friends of the Earth International}}, title = {{the tyranny of free trade wasted natural wealth and lost livelihoods}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2005}, month = dec, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/tyranny.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }