DON’T TRADE AWAY THE CLIMATE

The report contends that corporate-driven trade deals, such as TTIP, TISA, and CETA, obstruct the transition to renewable energy and empower corporations to sue governments over environmental regulations. It highlights the role of the WTO and Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms in protecting polluting industries and criticizes 'false solutions' like carbon trading and REDD+. The authors call for a democratic economic approach that prioritizes local resources and sustainable development over growth-at-all-costs trade regimes.

• Trade and investment agreements are designed to promote growth in sectors that drive climate change, including fossil fuel extraction, energy-intensive industry, and intensive agriculture, while the long-distance transport resulting from increased trade further raises greenhouse gas emissions.
• Industrial agriculture is a major climate driver; while formally estimated at 11% of global emissions in 2010, this figure may be closer to 50% when including chemical inputs, transport, food storage, the industrial meat industry, and associated deforestation.
• Major regional trade agreements—specifically the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), and Trade in Services Agreement (TISA)—are negotiated in secret and threaten the ability of governments to regulate energy efficiency or ban dirty fossil fuels, viewing such measures as 'trade barriers'.
• The Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) process allows foreign investors to sue governments in secret courts for actions that affect profits, creating a 'chilling effect' where governments avoid strong climate policies to avoid litigation.
• Specific examples of ISDS abuse include a US$1.9 billion case by Vattenfall against Germany over coal plant permits, a US$250 million suit by Lone Pine Resources against Canada over a fracking moratorium in Quebec, and a case where Ecuador was ordered to pay Occidental Petroleum between US$1 billion and US$1.77 billion.
• The World Trade Organization (WTO) maintains a growth-focused agenda that hinders climate action through subsidy rules that limit support for domestic renewable energy and intellectual property rules that increase the cost of low-carbon technologies.
• The report identifies carbon trading and REDD+ as 'false solutions' that allow developed countries to avoid cutting emissions and risk replacing natural forests with less effective tree plantations.

APA

Hall, R., & Cossar-Gilbert, S. (n.d.). DON’T TRADE AWAY THE CLIMATE. Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/foe-climate-trade-booklet-EN-web.pdf

Chicago

Hall, Ronnie, and Sam Cossar-Gilbert. DON’T TRADE AWAY THE CLIMATE. Friends of the Earth International, n.d. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/foe-climate-trade-booklet-EN-web.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hall |first1=Ronnie |last2=Cossar-Gilbert |first2=Sam |title=DON’T TRADE AWAY THE CLIMATE |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/foe-climate-trade-booklet-EN-web.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hallnddont, author = {Hall, Ronnie and Cossar-Gilbert, Sam}, title = {{DON’T TRADE AWAY THE CLIMATE}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/foe-climate-trade-booklet-EN-web.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }