Trade and Environment at the World Trade Organization: State of Play and Entry Points

The document maps the various 'entry points' for environmental policy within the WTO, ranging from formal committees and negotiating groups to newer, member-led plurilateral initiatives. It highlights that while no single environmental agreement exists, the WTO manages this nexus through general exceptions (GATT Article XX), monitoring bodies (TBT and SPS committees), and specific negotiations on fisheries subsidies and environmental goods. The brief also details three recent ministerial statements from December 2021 focusing on environmental sustainability, plastic pollution, and fossil fuel subsidy reform, which aim to foster cooperation ahead of the Thirteenth WTO Ministerial Conference.

• The WTO lacks a specific agreement dedicated to the environment, but members can implement environmental measures under GATT Article XX to protect life, health, or conserve exhaustible natural resources, provided they are not 'disguised restriction on international trade.'
• Negotiations on fisheries subsidies aim to prohibit support for vessels engaged in IUU fishing, stocks recognized as overfished, and subsidies contributing to overcapacity, while maintaining flexibilities for developing countries and LDCs.
• Multilateral negotiations on environmental goods and services have largely stalled since 2011 due to disagreements over definitions and scope, leading some members to pursue regional or plurilateral alternatives.
• Between 2009 and 2020, the WTO Environmental Database recorded over 6,800 notifications referring to more than 14,400 environment-related measures, primarily in the form of technical regulations, standards, and agricultural subsidies.
• WTO dispute settlement jurisprudence generally affirms that non-discriminatory environmental policies are compatible with WTO obligations, focusing on whether measures constitute 'disguised trade protectionism' rather than questioning their environmental legitimacy.
• The Aid for Trade initiative, which provided US$46.6 billion in official development assistance in 2019, is increasingly being urged to mainstream environmental considerations and support a 'green global economy.'
• Three member-led initiatives launched in December 2021—Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions (TESSD), Informal Dialogue on Plastic Pollution (IDP), and Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform (FFSR)—seek to enhance cooperation on sustainability, with 81 members co-sponsoring at least one.
• The TESSD initiative specifically focuses on trade and climate change, circular economy, sustainable supply chains, and the environmental effects of subsidies.
• The Informal Dialogue on Plastic Pollution (IDP) aims to identify collective actions to reduce plastic pollution, focusing on circular economy approaches and the trade of technologies that reduce pollution.
• The Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform initiative, which now includes G7 members like the EU and UK, focuses on transparency and the rationalization of inefficient subsidies while protecting vulnerable communities in developing countries.

APA

Bellmann, C., Birkbeck, C. D., Kettunen, M., & Sugathan, M. (2022). Trade and Environment at the World Trade Organization: State of Play and Entry Points. Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs. https://lyrical-cormorant.files.svdcdn.com/production/assets/images/Publications/TESS-Policy-Brief-Trade-and-Environment-at-the-WTO.pdf?dm=1695371679

Chicago

Bellmann, Christophe, Carolyn Deere Birkbeck, Marianne Kettunen, and Mahesh Sugathan. Trade and Environment at the World Trade Organization: State of Play and Entry Points. Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs, 2022. https://lyrical-cormorant.files.svdcdn.com/production/assets/images/Publications/TESS-Policy-Brief-Trade-and-Environment-at-the-WTO.pdf?dm=1695371679.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bellmann |first1=Christophe |last2=Birkbeck |first2=Carolyn Deere |last3=Kettunen |first3=Marianne |last4=Sugathan |first4=Mahesh |title=Trade and Environment at the World Trade Organization: State of Play and Entry Points |publisher=Forum on Trade, Environment, & the SDGs |date=April 2022 |url=https://lyrical-cormorant.files.svdcdn.com/production/assets/images/Publications/TESS-Policy-Brief-Trade-and-Environment-at-the-WTO.pdf?dm=1695371679 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bellmann2022trade, author = {Bellmann, Christophe and Birkbeck, Carolyn Deere and Kettunen, Marianne and Sugathan, Mahesh}, title = {{Trade and Environment at the World Trade Organization: State of Play and Entry Points}}, institution = {Forum on Trade, Environment, \& the SDGs}, year = {2022}, month = apr, url = {https://lyrical-cormorant.files.svdcdn.com/production/assets/images/Publications/TESS-Policy-Brief-Trade-and-Environment-at-the-WTO.pdf?dm=1695371679}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }