TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT: SOUTH AFRICAN CASE-STUDIES

The report analyzes how South Africa's export-led growth strategy interacts with global environmental standards and regulations. It focuses on three sectors: coal, where the Kyoto Protocol threatens global demand; steel, where low environmental investment and cheap energy may be viewed as unfair subsidies; and citrus, which has successfully adapted to stringent EU and US market demands. The document argues that while formal WTO-legal green trade barriers are unlikely, informal pressures like eco-labeling and buyer specifications are increasing. It recommends better information gathering, stronger international representation, and government support for small exporters to meet international environmental standards.

• South Africa's coal export sector is potentially vulnerable to a shrinking global market resulting from the Kyoto Protocol, as many of its top eight importers are Annex I countries committed to greenhouse gas reductions.
• The South African steel industry faces risks that its low environmental investment and reliance on cheap, coal-based electricity could be interpreted as implicit subsidies, potentially leading to countervailing or anti-dumping duties.
• The citrus export industry has successfully adapted to stringent environmental, social, and health requirements from international buyers, particularly supermarkets in the UK and Europe, without losing market share.
• International market pressures in the citrus sector have led to positive domestic environmental and social outcomes, including the adoption of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and improved worker hygiene and safety.
• South Africa's electricity generation is highly carbon-intensive, with the country ranked as the 32nd largest CO2 emitter per capita globally, creating a vulnerability for energy-intensive downstream exporters.
• While formal trade restrictions based on process and production methods (PPMs) are unlikely to be legal under WTO rules, informal barriers such as eco-labels and buyer specifications are becoming significant.
• There is a significant gap in environmental data collection and information sharing in South Africa, which hinders the development of effective policy responses to trade-environment linkages.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (1999). TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT: SOUTH AFRICAN CASE-STUDIES. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/sacasefullrprt_e.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT: SOUTH AFRICAN CASE-STUDIES. 1999. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/sacasefullrprt_e.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT: SOUTH AFRICAN CASE-STUDIES |date=June 1999 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/sacasefullrprt_e.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment1999trade, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT: SOUTH AFRICAN CASE-STUDIES}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {1999}, month = jun, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/sacasefullrprt_e.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }